Legends of Terra Book 1 Arc 1: Legends of Change
by TFAN Override-Dragon Light
Summary: Emma wasn't sure what was crazier: the electrical storm that came out of nowhere, or the portal that transported her to a world that was SUPPOSED to be fiction. Thankfully, she landed in Metru Nui's Great Temple in time to help the six chosen Matoran begin their first Toa Quest. That is, if she and Onewa can stop bickering with each other. This is only the first of many adventures.
1. Chapter 1: My (Not So) Normal Day

A/N- Hello everyone! Welcome to my newest (and greatest) series! I've already started one with the _Superior Defender Gundam Force_ series, and now I'm doing a _LEGO Bionicle_ one.

For many of you readers, this is a rewrite of an old story of mine, _Toa Assemble_. Sadly, my brother pointed out many mistakes and inconsistencies, as well as the fact it jumped into the middle of my original story line.

(I may or may not have been forced to binge watch _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic_ with my younger sister before typing that one)

My writing style has also become a lot more formal and has improved greatly (I don't care if I got a B in English, I passed the damn course!)

Just a fair warning, I am now addicted to Pokémon GO (Go Team Mystic!), and I am also job searching (I sent out the best applications to **_TEN_** _ **DIFFERENT**_ job placements, and not one damn phone call! I'm over 18 damnit! Stop giving the thirteen year olds adult work! I didn't get a job then, so why should they?! I have more experience!) so there will be a few mentions of Pokémon as well as (extremely) erratic updates.

So now, the story right from the beginning!

Disclaimer: LEGO Bionicle, Iron Man, Marvel and Pokémon all belong to their respective owners. Riverside Ohio is a real place, I am merely borrowing the name. I own only my OCs and the plot.

* * *

 _"Now Pikachu use Thunderbolt!"_

 _"Pika-CHUUUU!"_

A grin split the viewer's face as the little electric mouse launched an extremely powerful burst of yellow electricity at his opponents, sending them flying.

 ** _"Team Rockets blasti-!"_**

"Emma, time to go to school!"

A groan escaped the girl's lips and a pair of arctic blue eyes, the right one slightly covered by cerulean blue striped blonde bangs, rolled in annoyance. She pressed her finger down on the power button as she yelled back "Coming Mom!" _It was in the best part!_

With the small TV in her room now black, the tall, lean girl rolled off her half bunk, landing on her feet like a cat. Her balance was perfect as she turned to head out the door, not a step out of-

" ** _MROOOW!_** "

"AH- _Sparks!_ "

The five foot nine girl cursed as she leapt backwards, and the white fuzzy fur-ball that was her kitten shot off like a rocket.

" _Emma-!_ "

" _Coming Mom!_ " The girl shouted as she straightened up, and raced out her bedroom door, leaping over the laundry basket that lay in the middle of the hallway. Reaching the top of the stairs, she ran down three steps before leaping onto the banister. With a huge grin on her face, she slid down past the next dozen so steps.

Sliding off the banister as it reached the first floor of the house, the girl grinned as she raced out of the hallway and into the kitchen. She almost ran into a woman just taller than her with bright green eyes and shoulder length straight blonde hair wearing a dress suit in her rush.

The woman laughed as the girl slid to a stop next to the kitchen counter, grabbing the white lunch bag left on it before racing back towards the front door. As the girl shoved the bag in her large blue and white backpack, she didn't turn away from packing, but did let out a "Sorry!" as the woman walked past her.

The woman only shook her head with a small laugh, already used to these antics. "I know Emma. Now I'll be getting the car started, so be quick!"

The girl nodded, already checking to make sure she had everything in her backpack. As the woman walked out, the girl pulled on a pair of blue and white running shoes, doing up both sets of straps at the same time. She then put on a light blue elbow length sleeve jacket, which complimented her simple white t-shirt and mid-thigh length jean shorts. Reaching into the top of the front closet, she grabbed a pair of light blue and white fingerless gloves, slipping them onto her hands.

"Don't forget your phone!" Her mom called back from outside.

Her blue eyes widened, and she darted into the living room, grabbing the blue iPhone off of it's charger before grabbing the charging cable and plug. Shoving the phone and earbuds in her left pocket, she used her right hand to shove the cable in before zipping it shut.

A horn honked from the outside, so she quickly slung the bag over her shoulder before darting towards the front door. As she opened the door, the girl grabbed a blue baseball cap with a white rim from the bench and plopped it on her head, pulling the mid back length ponytail of cerulean blue striped blonde hair through the gap in the strap on the back.

The horn honked again, and the girl darted out the door, locking it behind her.

"So," the woman said as the girl buckled in, "you ready for your math test later?"

The girl grinned. "Yep!" She pumped her fist. "Ready to get another A+!"

The woman chuckled.

As the green sedan pulled out of the driveway, the woman asked "Did you say goodbye to Sparks?"

The girl snorted, rolling her eyes. "If you count nearly stepping on her and having her shoot of like a rocket, then ya."

The woman shook her head, chuckling again as she pulled onto their street.

The girl grinned, before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone. Quickly unlocking it, she pulled up her Music app. Placing the earbuds in with one hand, she scrolled through the different playlists before clicking on the one she wanted. As the song _Warriors_ by _Imagine Dragons_ began to play in her ears, the girl heard her mom say "Emma, I won't be getting home till nine, but I know you have plans with your friends, so text me when you leave school and when you arrive at wherever you're going to, okay?"

The girl nodded, flashing her mom a thumbs up. "Got it."

Amy smiled, and continued to keep her focus on the road ahead of her.

As she turned her head back out the window, Emma grinned. _Typical worrying mom._

* * *

"Ms. McFord?"

Emma lifted her head up as she entered the school grounds. Riverside High was a small two story building, with a over a dozen classrooms scattered over its 300 so square feet. It had a large double gym, a gigantic library with over forty of the newest Stark Industries computers, as well as an Auditorium and Cafeteria. It currently held around two hundred so grade nine to twelve students, as it was a small town high school.

Emma raised a brow as a two woman, both a couple years older than her mom, approached her. One was about five foot eight, wearing a white blouse with a fancy grey jacket and a grey pencil skirt with black heels. Her fiery orange hair was pulled into a tight bun, though a few small locks hung over her dark blue eyes.

The other woman was about five nine, wearing a short sleeved light purple dress with a thick black belt, and her neckline showed nothing. She had dark brown hair which was hanging loose in light waves that came down just past her shoulders, and her light brown eyes twinkled from behind her glasses.

Emma turned to the second woman as they approached, pulling out her earbuds and raising a brow. "Yes Ms. Melody?"

Ms. Melody, the principal of Riverside High, smiled at the thirteen year old standing in front of her. "Emma, I would like to introduce to you Ms. Virginia Potts, secretary of Stark Industries."

The ginger smiled in greeting, and held out her right hand, her left clutching a clipboard. "A pleasure to meet you Ms. McFord."

Emma smiled politely, and extended her gloved hand. "No Ms. Potts, it's an honour to meet the secretary of Stark Industries."

The woman laughed as the two shook hands, "Please, call me Pepper. Ms makes me feel old."

Emma grinned, also laughing. "Only if you call me Emma."

Pepper let out another laugh. "Agreed." She grinned.

As the two released each other's hands, Emma turned to Ms. Melody and asked "Ms. Melody, why is Pepper here?"

The principal smiled, looking down at the young teenager in front of her. "You see, Ms. Potts is here to oversee how the school is doing. Since Stark Industries has supplied us with our technology, Pepper is here to ensure that it is all being put to good use."

Emma nodded in understanding, before raising a questioning brow. "I have to ask, why tell me?"

Ms. Melody chuckled. "I only believed that it was fair to warn one of our most promising and… _outgoing_ student of this event."

Emma grimaced. "S'not my fault that the superintendent startled me." She muttered.

Now it was Ms. Melody's turn to raise a brow. "I'm pretty certain that flipping a man twice your weight over your shoulder is more than 'startled'."

Pepper choked in surprise as Emma groaned. "I thought I said I was sorry!"

Before anything else could be said, the early warning bell rang.

Emma's eyes widened, and she darted past the two women with a quick "Sorry gotta go bye!"

Pepper raised a ginger brow as the thirteen year old dashed though the double doors with a cry of "I'm going to be late!".

"I'm guessing that there is a story behind _that_ incident May?"

May Melody chuckled. "Oh, you have no idea."

* * *

 _Three Hours Later…_

Emma sighed as she entered the cafeteria, lunch bag in hand. She stood in the entrance for a few moments, eyes scanning the scattered sea of students before her eyes landed on an arm waving her over. A grin split her face as she recognized the owner of the arm, and Emma quickly made her way to the back of the cafeteria.

After squeezing through a group of cheerleaders and nearly stepping on a kid's foot, Emma plopped herself gratefully down on the offered chair. "Thanks Emily."

The five five brunette with light brown eyes wearing a light green tee with the words 'Hit me, I dare you!' written in white, jean shorts and green tennis shoes smiled sympathetically. A green baseball cap sat on her head, giving her a sporty look. Pushing a lock of mid back length emerald green tipped brown hair out of her eyes with a green fingerless glove covered hand, Emily smiled. "Hey, anything for my best friend."

A voice was raised from beside her. "What about the rest of us?! I'm not chopped liver!"

Emma laughed, turning to the girl who sat on Emily's left. "Oh, no one can forget about _you_ Alana."

The brown-red eyed five foot seven girl with messy crimson red hair that came just past her chin rolled her eyes. She wore a loose red tank top with a tight black spaghetti strap top underneath with ripped black stretch pants and bright red sneakers. "Ha ha, very funny."

"Come on sis," the girl on Alana's left chuckled. "You know that they're just messing with you."

Alana huffed, turning and crossing her arms over her chest. "You don't think that I don't know that Hannah?"

The shoulder length blue tipped black haired girl with well tanned skin and blue-violet eyes snickered softly. The five four girl wore a simple blue lasagna strap top with white lace on the bottom and purple jean shorts. A pair of blue-purple tennis shoes covered her feet, and a purple headband held back her straight hair.

A boy sitting at the end of the table shook his head with a "Here we go again."

Emma raised a brow at him. "Do I want to know Jack?"

The penny brown spiky haired five five and a half boy with orange-brown eyes and a light dusting of freckles on his face groaned. Jack wore a white t-shirt with a brown leather jacket tied around his waist, a pair of dusty jeans, as well as brown and white sneakers.

Jack sighed. "You know that they do this every day right?" He said, referring to the two twins who were now in the middle of arguing.

The girl who sat across from Emma shook her head. "You know how Emma can be easily distracted. Besides," she said, waving off Emma's cry of "I am not!", "this is something that we've all grown used to."

Emma scowled, levelling a glare at the girl sitting in front of her. "Of _course_ Rebecca. _You_ would know." Her voice was thick with sarcasm.

The blonde almost white haired blue/brown eyed five six girl spluttered indigently. Rebecca wore a partially transparent white tee with a spaghetti strap top like Alana's underneath, only grey, with white jean shorts and white flats. Her hair was parted on the right side, so some of the just past shoulder length hair fell over her left brown eye.

The others laughed, and the boy sitting next to Jack howled out "Oh 'Becca! You should know better!"

Rebecca snarled as everyone else laughed. "Says you, Mr. I'm Going To Be Captain Of The Football Team Cause I'm Sooo Great!"

The well muscled boy scowled, and oh so maturely stuck out his tongue.

Emily laughed. "Come on Hank, 'Becca's just messing with you."

The smooth black haired boy with green eyes groaned. Hank stood at five seven, and he wore a black muscle shirt with grey shorts and black/grey running shoes. He, like Emma and Emily, wore fingerless gloves, only his were black. A black leather jacket hung off the chair he sat on.

The girl sitting between Hank and Rebecca shook her head in exasperation, looking very tempted to either just sink into the floor or bury her face in her hands. Emma noticed, and gave her a small smile. "You okay Caitlin?"

The shoulder length blonde haired aqua green eyed five foot girl had a small frown on her face. Her hair, which had light blue and green streaks in it, was pulled into a low ponytail. Caitlin wore a black lasagna strap top with a detailed picture of the planet Earth on it, including stars in the background. She had a pair of ripped skinny jeans on with light green flats. Her wavy hair was held back by a blue and green bandana.

"It's just, I new here and all…" Caitlin trailed off, uncertain of how to word her sentence.

Hank smiled as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Cait, you're one of us now. Just because you've only known us for a month doesn't mean that you can't participate in our conversations."

Alana snorted. "Ya, if you call _banter_ a conversation."

Hannah elbowed her fraternal twin in the side, snapping "Alana!"

Jack quickly stood up, and placed himself between the two before they could come to blows. "I will never understand why we let you two sit next to each other if all your going to do is _argue_."

Rebecca laughed. "Come on Jack, you know that those two are as opposite as night and day. They will find anything to argue about just for the sake of arguing."

The twins snapped their heads towards Rebecca, both snapping **"We do not!"**

Emma nearly chocked on her milk as she laughed. "The only thing those two will agree on is the fact that they do **_not_** argue about everything."

"Darn straight!" Alana huffed as Hannah rolled her eyes.

Jack, sensing that argument was over, moved back to his side in relief. Being one of two boys in a group of eight, with six hormonal girls, each with a different personality, as well as being one of the few mediators, could be quite difficult!

Caitlin smiled, loosening up a bit as she laughed. The rest of the group smiled, happy that their newest member was slowly but surely warming up to them.

Actual conversation started to move around the group, each telling the others of their activities since they last saw each other. There was laughter as Jack told of how his older sister Karen, a brown eyed brunette with a thing for pink, had freaked when she found out that there was a rat in her room. A rat that was actually a remote controlled cat toy that his dad had set up to frighten his daughter. Half the group ended up in tears when they learned that when Karen had found out the truth, she had chased her dad around the neighbourhood with a hair dryer, threatening bloody murder. Caitlin nearly choked on her soda laughing when Emma had admitted about being startled by her kitten that morning. Though Emily fell out of her chair in hysterics when she heard about how one of Hank's older brother Todd had scared his other two brothers Jake and Albert with a fake tarantula. Of course, when Hank pulled out said fake tarantula, the girls went running with screams as he made it look as though the spider was alive. When the girls realized that it was a fake, via Jack's hyena like laughter, Hank was chased around the cafeteria by six pissed off thirteen year old girls while screaming that he had no regrets.

Jack did eventually managed to calm the girls down, preventing them from enacting torture on a cornered Hank (if you considered makeup or being dressed up torture).

As Caitlin told of how her dad had lost control of the family car the night before, and somehow managed to hit the only stump (or object above ground level) for miles coming back from Texas, an eerily annoying voice pierced the happy atmosphere.

"Well, if it isn't the Rainbow Squad."

A growl rose in Emma's throat as she, along with her seven friends, turned to see a five six boy with dark brown hair and almost black eyes. His attire consisted of a faded red shirt with a monster truck on it and baggy jean with brown work boots.

The girl beside him sneered. "More like the looser squad."

She had long, meticulously styled wavy black hair and brown eyes. She was five eight, with dark brown skin and a voluptuous figure. She wore a tight white blouse and pink miniskirt that left nothing to hide. She had white knee high boots with thick two inch heels. Her face was smothered in makeup, which made her look like a fake doll.

A small crowd of girls and boys with similar styles stood behind the two, all too eager for what they thought was about to come.

" _Liam, Jada,_ " Emma ground out as she stood up, "what do _you_ want?" It was obvious that Emma was not to far away from pouncing on the two and kicking them to kingdom come.

The girl, Jada, let out an annoying high pitched laugh. "What, I can't talk to my least favourite group in the world?"

There were several snarls from behind Emma as Liam and Jada's posse began to laugh.

"Yeah," the boy, Liam, grinned maliciously, "my day isn't complete until I remind you who's in charge!"

The whole group of bullies began to laugh harshly.

Emma's group went silent as she gripped the top of her chair, making it groan from the pressure. Jack grimaced as he mentally prepared to clean up the coming disaster. "Oh no…"

Emily gulped. "They awoke the beast!"

It was common knowledge around Riverside High; never, never _EVER_ , piss off Emma McFord. Emma had a notable reputation around the town for her… _treatment_ towards bullies.

And Jada and Liam were about to be reminded of it.

"You in charge?" Emma ground out, eyes flashing.

Liam laughed, not noticing the dent that Emma's hand was making on the plastic chair. "Of course!" He grinned, "After all, you lot are nothing more than ants, willing to do our bidding."

Jada grinned, adding fuel to the already raging inferno that was Emma's temper. "Yes, and besides, you're so pathetic I'm amazed that your mom hasn't left you yet like your father!"

 _That_ was the wrong thing to say.

The entire cafeteria went silent as Emma snarled " _I have no father._ "

The posse began to back up. Their leaders had gone to far, and none of them wanted to get caught in the crossfire.

But the two bullies were too wrapped up in their teasing and taunting to realize the fatal error they had just made. Every one, students staff and parents alike, knew that no matter what, never, _EVER_ bring up the topic of Emma's father. Jada and Liam were going to pay.

Liam laughed, he, like Jada, completely oblivious to the growing fury in front of him. "You're probably so pathetic that he just left right after you were born beca-!"

Anything else Liam was going to say was stopped as Emma buried her right fist into his cheek, sending the jock-to-be sailing.

Jada cried out in surprise, before Emma's left palm met her right cheek, a loud smack ringing about the silent room. The black stumbled back in shock and pain, hands clutching her now bruised cheek.

Before Emma could lunge forward and do further damage, Emily, Alana and Hannah all grabbed her. Emma struggled against their hold for a few more seconds before relenting, her anger dissipating.

The posse took the chance to grab their leaders and run. Nothing was worth getting pummelled by the strongest girl in school!

Emma stared after the disappearing bullies with a blank look, a single tear sliding down her face. Hannah took notice, and gently guided Emma back to her seat. As the black blue haired girl pulled the blonde blue haired girl into a comforting hug, the others fumed. How dare those two bring up something like that! Emma did not deserve to be reminded of him!

Emma looked up from where her head was resting on Hannah's shoulder. A small smile flickered onto her tear stained face. _I'm glad that I have such wonderful friends…_

Hannah, sensing that the crisis had passed, pulled out of the hug and smiled. "How about we talk about what we're going to be doing after school?"

There were murmurs of agreement from all around, and conversation started anew.

"So…" Emily asked, "what exactly _are_ we doing tonight?"

Emma grinned. "We're putting on a concert. Remember?"

Jack nodded. "Yeah, isn't it a charity concert or something?"

"It's a fundraising concert actually." Rebecca corrected. "And it's so we can help renovate the community centre."

"Yeah," Caitlin piped up, "that place is in serious need of repair and updating."

"I know that." Emily scowled, "But when and where are we going to hold it?"

There were groans from all around.

"You seriously forgot already?!" Alana snapped. "We have been planning this for the past two _freaking_ months!"

"Language!" Hannah reprimanded, before turning to Emily "But Em, how did you forget?"

Emily coughed uncomfortably. "Uh… well… uh…" she grimaced in embarrassment "I may or may not have been paying attention?" She rushed the last four words, turning bright pink in humiliation.

Jack, Caitlin, Hank and Emma all snickered while Hannah, Alana and Rebecca shook their heads. **_Oh Emily…_**

Emily buried her face in her hands. It's not her fault that she gets easily distracted!

…that, and she got bored easily as well.

Emma shook off her laughter, and patted Emily's shoulder. "Don't worry Emily, it happens to all of us from time to time."

Emily gave Emma a thankful smile, and the snickering died down.

Giving the green tipped brunette a knowing look, Emma continued "And just as a reminder, it's at the community centre, the event begins at six, and the concert starts at seven."

Emily nodded thankfully, and the group resumed normal conversation.

…normal conversation being hysterical laughter and nearly choking on their drinks.

* * *

 _Three More Hours Later…_

Emma smiled as she walked off the school grounds, waving to her friends as they headed off in their separate directions: Alana and Hannah to grab the equipment for the concert; Emily had to go to her team soccer game; Rebecca had piano lessons; Caitlin had violin practice; Hank had to join his three brothers for a football training session; and Jack had a doctors appointment.

Emma, seeing as she was the one who had originally organized the event, was heading towards where it occurring. She had to make sure that everything was set up correctly; the vendors, the stage, the sound equipment, the booths, and that all the volunteers were able to make it to their assigned stations. Thirteen she may be, but Emma had to learn at a young age how to take charge.

Shaking off the rather unpleasant memories that came with the thought, Emma quickened her pace slightly. Storm clouds had begun to form, so the blue striped blonde haired girl wanted to get there before it rained in the event they had to either relocate inside or they had to cancel.

Emma seriously prayed that if worst comes to worse, that it was the former, not the latter they would do.

As she sped up her pace, the atmosphere seemed to increase in pressure, as though it was trying to crush her. Lightning flashed overhead with a loud bang, sending Emma crashing to the ground with her hands covering her head. The air around the fallen girl began to feel charged, and Emma started to push herself up, only for the ground to shake. The thirteen year old gave a yelp as she was sent back to the ground.

The ground seemed to soften, and as Emma pulled herself back up, it cracked. Hearing the cracking, her arctic blue eyes shot wide open.

But before she could recover, the ground split open. Emma barely managed to scream as she fell, before her vision went black.

* * *

The world spun around her, but no air rushed past her. Emma could feel the sensation of falling, and yet it seemed as though she barely moved at all in the black abyss that surrounded her.

Then, out of nowhere, there was a bright burst of colour, and Emma found herself tumbling onto a cold stone floor.

"Ow…" she groaned as she laid there. "Did someone get the number of the bus that hit me?"

Getting no response, Emma pushed herself upwards with a pained groan. Blinking her eyes, they widened in shock before she rubbed them.

She was inside some kind of gigantic stone chamber, with six delicately carved pillars holding up a circular arched ceiling. In the centre of the chamber was some sort of half sphere with six holes in it. Between each of the pillars were stone archways, each of which most likely led to the outside.

"Where am I?" Emma blinked. The place seemed familiar, but she could not place where.

A scuttling sound came from behind one of the pillars, and Emma automatically snapped her head towards it. There was a brief flash of green metal, followed by what sounded like a strangled yelp.

Emma's jaw dropped in shock as what looked like a two foot humanoid robot with glowing orange-white eyes fell from behind the pillar. A black robot with glowing green eyes popped his head out, glancing at her in fear before grabbing it's friend, dragging the green bot behind the pillar.

A flash of red caught the corner of her eye, and Emma's head snapped towards it. She only managed to get a brief look at the red bot peeking out from behind another pillar, before it was yanked back by a pair of blue hands.

Realization hit Emma in the face like a ton of bricks. Eyes widening, she gasped out "This can't be…"

"…the _Kini Nui_ …"

* * *

A/N- And done.

This chapter was pretty much just the introductions for my OC and her friends, as well as a few side characters. The real action begins next chapter.

I only introduced Pepper in order to show you readers which universe this was set in. The Avengers won't come in till later. _Much_ later.

'Till then, read, review, and enjoy!


	2. Chapter 2: The Introduction

A/N- Hey everyone! Sorry this came out so late. I ended up having to take my school night course on different nights, so my whole schedule has be thrown out of whack. I do apologize whole heartedly.

For Pokémon GO users, five new Pokémon have come out from Gen 3 as you all know. The rest of the Hoenn region is scheduled to come out around Christmas!

Hopefully the next chapter will have come out before then…

* * *

Vakama's day had gone from stressful, to heart stopping scary, to crazy, and finally, to completely insane.

First, his latest attempt at creating Turaga Dume's requested mask had once again ended in a broken mess of shattered Kanoka disc.

Second, his friend Toa Lhikan had suddenly dropped in, telling poor Vakama that he was needed to save Metru Nui and giving him a strange package.

Third, the Dark Hunters Nidhiki and Krekka had attacked, capturing Lhikan when the Toa put Vakama's safety over his own freedom.

Fourth, he found out that the package Lhikan had given him contained a red Toa stone as well as a secret map to the Kini Niu in Ga Metru.

Fifth, the Ta Matoran found out that five other Matoran of the different Metru's had also been summoned by Lhikan to the Temple.

And finally, when they had been discussing, though it was more like arguing, about why they were chosen by Lhikan, the air in the Great Temple had become charged, followed by a loud bang that proceeded the sudden opening of a multicoloured vortex.

In short, this was _not_ Vakama's day.

When the vortex had burst into existence, the Matoran had listened to their instincts and scattered. Vakama had quickly found himself hiding behind the same pillar as Nokama.

As the two hid behind the pillar, they heard a loud thump followed by a pained groan. A strained female voice spoke up, but in a language that Vakama did not understand. The red Matoran shot a questioning glance at the blue Matoran on his left, seeing as Nokama was the resident linguist. The Ga Matoran shook her head, silently implying that this was a language that she did not know.

As Vakama frowned, the sound of scuffling metal came from the pillar to his right. Taking the chance, Vakama poked his head around the pillar.

The scuffling sound had come from Whenua and Matau, the latter ending up being shoved from his hiding place during a small scuffle. The Le Matoran let out a strangled cry of surprise, and hit the ground with a crash. As Whenua popped his head out, his green eyes went wide with fear.

Daring to look, Vakama pushed his head out further, and found himself staring at a strange Toa-like creature that was sitting on the Kini Nui's floor.

The creature looked to be shaped similar to a Toa, but much shorter. It was covered in strange blue and white clothe, colours similar to that of a Vo Matoran. Strange tan and blue strings covered its head, as well as a weird blue and white helmet. It lacked metal plating, exposing a light tan coloured hide. Its eyes were not like a Bionicle's however. Unlike the normal colour that was signature to each variety of Matoran with a glowing oval shaped lighter colour for a pupil, Vakama's red eyes with light orange pupils being a good example, the creatures eyes did not glow. They were white, with arctic blue circles for pupils. The strangest thing about its eyes was the smaller black circle that sat in the middle of its pupils.

Vakama watched the creature as it stared at the fallen form of Matau being dragged back behind the pillar by a panicking Whenua. As Vakama moved his head out further, now more curious than scared, he found himself being yanked back with a silent squawk. Nokama slapped her hand over his mouth, her making a shushing motion with her free hand.

The strange voice spoke up again, sounding breathless. Though the words it spoke were unknown, its last two words set Vakama's armour plating on edge.

"… _Kini Nui_ …"

How did this strange creature know the Matoran words for the Great Temple? The only thing it had been speaking so far had been gibberish.

Vakama had to know!

Yanking Nokama's hand off of his mouth, the Matoran of fire left his hiding spot, ignoring Nokama's hushed cries of "Don't!"

As he rounded the pillar, Vakama found himself stopping in surprise. The creature was pressed against the half sphere that sat in the middle of the chamber, Onewa standing before it with a carving tool making threats. Instead of intimidating Onewa with its size, the creature looked panicked, hands held palm out in an attempt to show that it meant no harm. But the Po Matoran was dead set on keeping the creature pinned.

* * *

Emma stared at the Po Matoran before her. The Matoran had come out of nowhere, waving around some strange tool that had a distinctively sharp edge. He had been crying out loud words in a language that she did not understand, but it did not take a genius to figure out that he was threatening her. Now, pressed against the central structure of the room, the girl found herself fearing for her life. Though she stood a good three and a half feet taller than Onewa, he had a sharp weapon, while she did not.

In other words, she was at a disadvantage.

Just as Onewa made another jab at her, a dark red mechanical hand grabbed Onewa's arm. Emma was surprised to see that it was Vakama who had stopped the Matoran of stone from inflicting what could have been some serious damage. The two exchanged words, Onewa giving red Matoran an unimpressed look while Vakama waved his arms around, gesturing towards her startled form as well as towards the other Matoran who were now emerging from their hiding spots.

It was then that she felt something poke her leg, leading her to let out a startled yelp.

* * *

"This creature is an unknown! It might attack us!" Onewa snapped.

Vakama, undeterred, snapped right back. "Can't you see that it means no harm?!" He waved his hands towards said creature. "If it meant harm, it would have already attacked us!" He then gestured towards the other Matoran, who were now emerging from their hiding spots. "It had the perfect opportunity to attack Matau, and yet it didn't!" Vakama gestured towards the creature again. "If anything, its _frightened_ of you! Do you not see how it cowered when you attacked it?!"

Onewa went to rebuttal, when a startled yelp gained their attention. Both arguing Matoran turned, and saw that Matau was standing next to the creature, finger out showing that he had poked the creature. It, in turn, had yelped in surprise, and jumped away from Matau.

Matau grimaced. He had not meant to startle the creature. He was just curious about what it was made of, as it was unlike any rahi he had seen before.

The creature shouted something, obviously startled and highly annoyed, and it even waved its finger in a chastising motion. Vakama found himself stifling a laugh. The creature was chewing out Matau!

Poor Matau looked upset, muttering that he didn't mean to scare it.

The creature continued for a few more seconds, before crossing its arms with a huff. Matau bowed his head, his voice small as he said "Sorry-oops…"

The creature smiled softly, kneeling down and placing a clothe covered hand on his shoulder. It, no, _she_ , by the pitch of her voice, murmured a few kind words, accepting Matau's apology. Seeing that the creature meant no ill intent towards them, the Matoran slowly crowded around the creature, now more curious than frightened. The creature, for her her part, remained kneeling, choosing to remain close to their height.

* * *

Emma smiled at Matau, placing a hand on his shoulder as she accepted his apology. Hearing the shuffling of metal feet on stone, she raised her head to see that the other Matoran had come closer, crowding around her with curiosity. Onewa was the only one to stay back, but she didn't mind. He _had_ attacked her.

 _It's kinda weird seeing them all…_ Emma thought silently, _until now, I believed them only to be fiction._

Choosing to remain kneeling, as not to startle the Matoran, Emma listened as they spoke amongst each other.

 _I'm not really surprised that they speak another language,_ Emma mused, stifling a laugh as Matau was smacked upside the head by Nokama. _This_ is _another universe, so it makes complete sense._

Looking over the gathered Matoran, the blonde-blue haired found her arctic eyes drifting over to Nuju. The white Matoran's dual blue and red eyes were examining her curiously.

Emma found herself mentally comparing as she met Nuju's stare. _Heh, reminds me of when I first met 'Becca…_

* * *

 _Emma shifted nervously as she sat in her seat. The ten year old glanced around nervously, twiddling a pencil between her thumbs as she stared at the sheer amount of_ males _in the room._

 _Unconsciously, the blue striped blonde haired girl crossed her legs and zipped up her white jacket, even though it was already zipped up all the way. One of the boys glanced her way, so she immediately pulled the rim of her hat down to hide her face, pushing her bangs in her eyes and wincing as the pencil grazed her cheek._

 _The chair beside her scrapped back, and a girl clothed in white sat next to her. Her shoulder length blonde hair was almost snow white in colour, with bangs that slightly covered her left eye, which was brown in colour. She wore a simple white tee, with grey shorts and silver sandals._

 _Emma shifted a little to her left, turning to her sketch book in an attempt to distract herself. A half drawn sketch of a limping wolf with broken wings trailing damaged feathers behind it. Even though it was half done, a deep sadness could be seen in it's eyes._

 _Emma sighed softly, and began to work on the wings. She had the basic shape outlined, so she began to work on the more delicate details._

 _"That's incredible."_

 _Emma let out small squeak, jerking up so fast that her back cracked. The girl who sat next to Emma was staring at the drawing, before turning her calculating gaze on Emma._

 _Emma let out a silent gasp as the white haired girl's eyes landed on her. While the left eye was brown, the right one was blue._

 _The girl beside her motioned to the artwork. "The art, it's amazing."_

 _Emma blinked owlishly. No one except for her mother and art teacher had complemented her work before. Turning bright pink in sudden shyness, the blonde-blue haired girl ducked her head, murmuring "Thanks…" softly._

 _The white haired girl chuckled. "My name is Rebecca Elchin," she introduced, "what's your name?"_

 _Emma blinked for a second, then a smile twitched onto her lips. "Emma," She replied, "Emma McFord."_

* * *

Emma jumped as something poked her side. Looking down, she noticed that Nuju had moved closer to her side. He held something in his hands, which he held up to her.

He said something in his native tongue, pushing the object towards her as if saying "Take it."

Reaching down, Emma gently took the object. It was a small circular piece of metal with a symbol carved on one side. The symbol was a large circle with a smaller circle on each side, both opposite to the other and on a slanted angle. There were two curved shapes similar to the number 3. Emma knew the shape well. It was the Bionicle symbol. Attached to the metal was a light silver chain made of a lightweight metal.

As Emma examined the metal, she took notice that the other Matoran were watching her curiously. After a minute of examination, Nuju started making a motion of placing something over his neck.

Quickly catching what he meant, Emma placed the chain over her head. The piece of metal rested on her collarbone, and much to her surprise, gave off a soft glow.

"What the-!" She yelped, falling backwards in surprise.

"Hey! It works!"

Snapping her head up, Emma stared at the Matoran standing before her. _Did they just…?_

Nuju walked up to her, a chuckle escaping his lips. "I apologize for the sudden language change, but I could see no other way to communicate without trouble."

Emma's jaw opened and closed. "H-How? Wh-What…?"

The Ko-Matoran chuckled again, resting a hand on her shoulder. "The pendant I gave you is called a Translation Stone. Made from a Kanoka Rau disc, the stone translates any language that you hear mentally, allowing you to understand what is being said around you. It also translates what you say into our language."

"That… kinda makes sense." Emma said after a moments thought. Then something came to her. "If we can understand each other now, why haven't we introduced ourselves?"

Silence fell over the group as the Matoran looked at each other. Nuju finally broke it. "Well, I feel stupid."

Matau laughed. Nokama smacked him upside the head. "Ow!"

* * *

A/N- Sorry if this was short. It's more of a filler and introduction chapter more than a good part of the plot. The next chapter is the start of the plot. Till next time!


	3. Chapter 3: The Legend Begins

A/N- I'm baaaaack! Hope you're all enjoying this story, as I have many plans…

 _Yeeeeessssss_ … beautiful, _beautiful_ plans…

* * *

After introductions had been passed around, Emma was quickly filled in on recent events.

Events, as in, no one had any idea why they had been summoned.

"Your negativity pollutes this sanctuary builder." Nokama chasied.

Onewa huffed, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Save the lessons for your class teacher." He spat.

Emma groaned, rolling her eyes. _Good grief!_ "Come on guys, break it up." She played peacekeeper via placing herself between, and felt a sigh coming on when Onewa turned with another huff while Nokama stalked away.

"She's right," Nuju said, drawing the others attention, "we're here for a reason."

"And that would be?" Whenua asked, raising a brow.

Matau shrugged. "Maybe a-"

"Uh, guys?" Emma interrupted, and pointed towards the centre of the Suva. "I think Nokama's discovered something."

After the blue Ga-Matoran had placed her stone in the structure, a bright flash filled the room, and a pillar of ghostly light shot out of the central structure. Nokama stumbled back in shock, surprise lining her face.

The rest of the five Matoran, also surprised, quickly made their way forwards, and surrounded the structure. Reaching their destined positions, the Matoran each placed their own stone in the structure, much like Nokama had done. The pillar of light, now glowing much brighter, began to project the image of a ghostly Kanohi Hau.

A mask both Vakama and Emma knew very well.

"Toa Lhikan!" Someone, most likely Vakama, said.

As Emma hung back, giving the destined Matoran some space, the projection began to speak.

 _"Faithful Matoran,"_ Lhikan's voice began, _"Metru Nui needs you. A shadow threatens both it's heart and the light that hides within."_ Emma frowned. _That wasn't in the storyline…_

 _"Prove yourselves worthy Toa."_ His voice continued, holding conviction, and then became softer, _"And fear not. The Great Spirit shall guide you in ways that you cannot imagine."_

The ghostly mask began to glow white, and as the structure in the room rose, it revealed a pillar from underneath it. The light flashed brighter, and six tendrils of energy shot out, striking each of the Matoran.

Emma covered her eyes as the glow grew in intensity, hissing at the brightness and rendering her unable to see. And because of that, she never noticed a tiny, seventh tendril slink up and touch her own chest. The only thing she did feel was a weird tingling sensation accompanied by a warm feeling in her chest, but the girl chalked it up to the excess energy being emitted.

When the glow died down, the thirteen year old's eyes widened as she took in the now much taller beings before her. "Oh my…"

* * *

Emma watched from where she was leaning against a pillar as the new Toa, who she immediately dubbed the 'Toa Metru', explored their new weapons. Nuju was standing nearby, examining his new blade with his updated optical scanner.

"Such perfect balance…" Nokama marvelled over her twin axes, pulling different poses as she tested their weight and drag.

Vakama held his own weapon up, staring at it in complete awe. "A _disc launcher…_ "

Matau grinned suddenly as he started doing poses with his twin blades. Getting cocky, he tried to spin with them. The Toa of Air spun in the air, everything going perfect-

 ** _CHRASH!_**

-Until he smashed face-first into a nearby pillar.

Emma could not stop herself. The girl burst out laughing, leaning against the nearby shaking form of Nuju, who was also laughing as he tried to keep himself and Emma from falling over.

"Ooh…!" Whenua winced.

"Nice move Matau!" Onewa laughed.

Matau groaned as he sat up. Looking up, the green Toa watched as Nokama stopped in front of him.

Nokama chuckled even as she chastised Matau. "Need I remind you, this is about honouring our responsibility to the Great Spirit." She chuckled again as she sauntered towards where the others were gathering, leaving a gaping Toa of Air behind her.

"Nokama's right." Whenua said as Nuju and Emma joined him. "Mask-maker, you saw Toa Lhikan last, right?"

Vakama looked up from his disc launcher, obviously not expecting the question. "Well-uh…"

Nuju decided add in his own question. "Uh, what did he say we could expect?"

Vakama sighed. "He told me to stop the darkness." He explained as Matau joined their circle. "That I had to save the heart of Metru Nui." He became solemn then, recalling earlier events. "Then the Dark Hunters," Vakama broke the news, "took him away. It was because of me…"

Emma winced sadly as Vakama gained a pained look. Ignoring the others' sounds of horror, she made her way towards the new Toa of Fire. It was then as she looked into his distant eyes that she remembered. _Right,_ she grimaced, _the vision._

Emma stepped back just as Vakama swung backwards, him letting out a cry of surprise. The girl watched with pity as the now distraught Vakama tried to explain what had just happened with the 'Great Discs' to his now skeptical siblings.

Movement caught Emma's attention from the corner of her eye. Glancing upwards, the girl caught sight of a half bird-half bat-like creature watching the new Toa Metru with a vulture's eye. _Stupid Nivawk…_

"Visions can be a sign of madness, yes." She heard Nokama say, drawing her out of her thoughts. "Or messages from the Great Spirit."

Turning her attention back to the Toa, Emma listened as Nokama continued.

"But as Toa," she said "we cannot afford to ignore them."

There were a few words said in agreement, so Nokama laid out her idea. "Then it is agreed. Each will recover the Great Disc from our own Metru, and present it to Turaga Dume. He will know what to do."

Onewa butted in right then. "I'm doing this for Lhikan." He growled, poking Nokama im the chest and glaring at Vakama. "No one else." He stormed off to the side, leaving Vakama to lower his head in shame.

Scowling at the stone Toa's retreating back, Emma gently wrapped her arms around Vakama in a hug. "Don't worry about him," she murmured, "he's just jealous that he can't have the awesome visions."

Vakama cracked a smile at that.

And glancing upwards, Emma spotted the bat-bird flying away. _And so it begins…_

* * *

"It says here that the Great Disc's will be found by seeking the unfamiliar within the familiar." Nokama read off the exposed central pillar.

"What does that mean?" Nuju asked.

"I think it means going on a scavenger hunt." Emma commented as she came forward. Seeing the others confused looks, the girl explained. "Back home, scavenger hunts were where children were tasked with finding objects in their natural environment. For example," she pointed at the picture of the white Great Disc, "locating a white object in the middle of a pile of snow."

Eyes alighting with understanding, the Toa quickly agreed with her reasoning.

That's when Emma realized something. "What now?"

* * *

It was decided that Emma would go with Nuju. Seeing as she had experience with locating objects coloured similarly to their surroundings, it was decided that the human would accompany the Toa of Ice.

The two had then tracked down the location of their disc, which led them to the edge of a large glacier. Unfortunately, Nuju's idea of getting to the disc was something… unorthodox.

" **NUUUUUUUJUUUUUUUUUU**!" Emma shrieked as the human and Toa fell. She clung to the icy Toa with a vice like grip, arms around his neck and legs around his torso and eyes screwed shut. _I'm gonna die I'm gonna die **I'M GONNA DIE!**_

Nuju said nothing, but with a sudden jerk, slammed his blade into the icy cliff. Emma yelped as she nearly lost her grip, scrambling as she clung tighter. _Ohboyohboy oh boy…_

The Toa however had unfortunately slammed his face into the cliff during the sudden stop. As he pulled his head back, Emma noticed the ice that was packed into his optic. "Here…"

Adjusting her grip, Emma reached forward and managed to knock the snow off. Nuju shook his head to clear the rest of it, before grinning at her. "Thanks."

Emma nodded, before noticing something inside the ice. Something distinctly disc-like… "Is that…?"

Nuje blinked, before peering into the frozen water. The white Toa laughed in joy. "The disc! You found it!"

Emma laughed as well. "Well, it does 'look unfamiliar within the familiar'." She grinned, purposely quoting Nokama.

Nuju chuckled. "That it does."

* * *

Emma shivered as she and Nuju entered the Kini-Nui through the Ko-Metru entrance. "R-Rem-mind m-me t-to g-giv-ve N-Nok-kam-m-ma-a a p-p-piece of m-my m-m-mind."

The Toa Metru of Ice patted her on the back. "It wasn't that ba…"

Nuju trailed off as Emma gave him a very, _very_ flat look from under the rim of her hat. He grimaced. "Never mind."

"Welcome back!" Whenua grinned, opening his arms up, a black Great Disc in one hand.

Emma managed a grin through her chattering teeth. "H-Hey Wh-When-nua."

Nuju fist bumped his earth brother in traditional greeting. "Great to be back."

A huff came from off to the side. "You took your sweet time." Onewa scowled, "What'd you do, get lost?"

 _Oh no he didn't…!_ Emma snarled at the brown Toa. Enough was enough. "O-Okay M-Mr. Big Shot," she stomped forward, and poked the larger and very startled bipedal in the chest plate, "you try entering a freezing environment after being used to warmer temperatures for most of your fraggin' life and come out without freezing!" Onewa started to back up, even though he was over two feet taller than her, "After all, the 'Great and Powerful' Onewa is _completely_ immune to freezing temperatures even though he slaggin' comes from _extreme warm temperatures!_ "

Onewa was now pressed against the central stone pillar, shock and surprise written on his masked face. Emma continued to ream the Toa out royally, all traces of being cold put on the back burner to let her frustration through.

Nuju jumped as he heard a snort from behind him. Turning from the snarling fury that was reaming out his brother, Nuju saw Matau leaning against a pillar that stood behind him. "What?"

Pushing off the pillar, the green Toa of Air moved to stand beside his icy brother. "Wasn't it short-time ago Emma-friend and Stone Brother were in opposite position-places?"

Turning, Nuju took another look at Emma angrily reaming out a still startled Onewa, and snorted. "True."

Whenua chuckled, moving up on Nuju's left. "I believe that the term is 'fair turn about', hmm?"

The three males chuckled, none moving to pull the two apart. Onewa had opened _that_ can of Kraata _all_ on his own.

"What is going on here?" Nokama's voice asked.

The three Toa turned to see the Toa of Water pull herself out of the canal that ran alongside one of the walls. The liquid streamed off her frame, leaving a trail of water behind her as Nokama moved to stand next to them.

Whenua snorted, crossing his arms over his broad chest plate. "Onewa decided to insult our newest member."

Nokama raised a brow, took one look at Emma chewing out a startled Onewa, and sighed.

* * *

" _Sooooooo…_ " Matau started from where he was sprawled out on a ledge, "when do you think-wonder Vakama-Brother will come back?"

Emma, who was leaning against the wall below him, shrugged. "Who knows? I mean, trying to find a Great Disc among other Kanoka discs could take awhile. And who knows what the 'mysterious fire root' is." She huffed, shifting against the wall and adjusting the straps on her backpack absentmindedly. "For all we know, he could still be looking for it."

Matau sighed impatiently, but made a noise of agreement. Emma gave a sigh of her own. It had been about two-ish hours since she had been pulled away from chewing out Onewa, and there was still no apparent sign of the Toa of Fire.

"Something's not right," she said at last, "Vakama's been gone way too long. Something's wrong."

"Don't tell me you just had a vision of the future too." Onewa snarked.

"No, just a feeling, boulder brain." Emma snarked back.

"Enough you two," spoke up Nokama, halting the blooming argument. "Emma's right. Even if he had some trouble along the way, Vakama should've been back by now, or at least sent word to us on how he was doing. I say we go to Ta-Metru and see if he's alright."

"But even with all five of us, Ta-Metru's still a lot of ground to cover," Nuju pointed out. "That 'root of fire' he's supposed to find his disc at could be anywhere."

"Excuse me, but there are _six_ of us," Emma corrected with a frown.

"Sorry, Emma, but you're no Toa." Whenua pointed out.

"One does not need to have the size, armor, weapons, or power of a Toa to save lives." Emma countered, standing up and swinging her bag onto her back. "Besides, I'm not going sit around here while you guys are out looking for Vakama. I did go with Nuju to find his disc after all, _and_ in freezing temperatures. From now on, where you all go, I go. I put my foot down on that." With that, she stomped her foot, crossed her arms and huffed.

"You _can't_ be serious." Onewa snorted.

Looking the Stone Toa straight in the eye, she dared, "Try me."

There was a slight pause as the gathered Toa gazed upon the young human. Scowling, Emma added, "I assure you, if you guys in any way, shape, or form prevented me from leaving this place, I would still find some way to get myself free and catch up to you at Ta-Metru."

The Toa Metru couldn't help but remain speechless as the girl gave them all a steel eyed gaze. Seeing that she was not going to back down, or be convinced otherwise, Whenua gave in with a sigh of defeat and a slight smile. "Alright, you can come, but" he warned "be careful."

Emma nodded in understanding, and followed the group as they departed from the Great Temple.

"And stay near us." Nuju added, and Emma nodded again. The Toa of Ice then turned to Whenua and said under his breath, "She's got spirit, I'll give her that much."

"Agreed." His brother rumbled.

* * *

After about an hour of walking and avoiding being seen by the Vahki patrols as well as the local Matoran, the group made it to the home of the makers. Emma couldn't help but stare at the furnaces that littered the district. Seeing them in real life was completely different from seeing them in a movie. "So, uh, where do we go from here?" she asked, still staring at the massive structures.

"Yeah, anybody know-see where this 'root of hot-fire' actually is?" added Matau.

"I think I might have a hunch," said Nokama.

As the Toa of Water led the way, she explained that Ta-Metru had these fire pits that fed the fires in the furnaces and forges all over the district, thus functioning as the fires' roots. As such, it seemed logical that that was where Vakama would go to find the Ta-Metru Great Disc. Nokama was no expert of the fire district, but she knew enough of her way around due to having been there in the past.

"Have you ever been to these fire pits before, Nokama?" Emma questioned.

"No," replied the blue Toa. "The fire pits are very dangerous places; even mask makers are not allowed to go near, let alone in, them."

"Scorched Matoran, right?" guessed Onewa with a grimace.

"That and the fact that if anything happened to those fires, production in Ta-Metru would stop." confirmed Nokama. "You and your friends would no longer have anything to carve."

"What does Ta-Metru production got to do with Po-Metru carvers?" Emma asked, a little confused.

"It's here where Kanohi masks and all of the other things that Matoran use to work and play with everyday are made," said Whenua. "Then, they're shipped to Po-Metru where the finishing touches are added."

"So, every district depends on each other for the city to function as a whole," Emma realized, and the Toa nodded in confirmation.

Finally, after keeping to the shadows and avoiding Vahki patrols, the group reached the fire pits without trouble. However, they soon became very uneasy; there didn't appear to be any sign of the Toa of Fire.

"Spread out," Nokama ordered softly, "and keep an eye out for anything related to Vakama."

The group quickly dispersed, examining every inch of the area.

It wasn't long before Onewa called to them, "Hey, guys, look familiar?" The Stone Toa held up a crossbow-like tool; it was Vakama's disk launcher.

Everyone seemed to instinctively freeze and looked wearily around the place, not at all liking what they had discovered and what it could mean.

"Now I am _really_ starting to worry." Emma gulped in fear. _Oh dear…_

Matau, meanwhile, was looking nervously around himself when he felt something wrap around his right leg. He looked down just in time to see a blackened vine with glowing orange stripes tighten its grip on his leg, which, in the blink of an eye, pulled him down hard to the side and started dragging him toward a large shaft at a fast speed.

The green Toa immediately did what anyone would do in that situation. He screamed. "HELP!"

In a flash, the others were after him. Onewa and Whenua quickly grabbed him by the arms and pulled, the others grabbing his upper arms. However, whatever had hold of him was rather strong and the remaining four Toa and Emma strained with all of their combined might to free the Toa of Air. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough; no matter how much the others struggled, Matau was slowly, but surely, slipping out of their combined grasp.

"Get it off of me! Get it off of me!" he shouted fearfully, his chute-speak slipping.

As if in response, the vine managed to pull a little harder, actually causing the entire group to skid a few feet. With both sides tugging on either side of him, Matau felt like his leg and arms were being torn out of their sockets.

Spotting something sitting close by, Emma was struck with an idea. Letting go of Matau, not noticing how the Toa all slid immediately afterwards, she darted over, grabbed the disc launcher, loaded a disc, and fired at the vine. The disc struck it head on, and the vine exploded at the point of impact, severing it and freeing Matau. The Toa all stumbled backwards backwards from their momentum, but none lost their balance.

Onewa was the first to speak up, "Nice work." He huffed begrudgingly.

"Thanks." Emma answered, ignoring the huff. Looking back at the severed vine, nobody had to say what they now feared what must've happened to Vakama. "Now I am _really_ starting to worry." She shuddered.

"C'mon, let's follow its length." said Nokama as she began climbing into the shaft from which it came. "Maybe it'll lead us to Vakama."

"Provided there is any of him for us to find." Onewa said under his breath, only to jump when Emma growled at him before she stomped past.

"And, let's do it before whatever's connected to that thing comes after us." added Nuju, and they all followed the Toa of Water into the yawning pit.

* * *

A/N- Yes, I parodied the term 'can of worms'. Seeing as Kraata are very similar to worms… yeah. And Onewa gets payback for startling her last chap! Boo-yah!

I read somewhere that the Toa fought off the Morbuzahk, and I saw it in the small clip that showed Vakama finding his disc in _Legends of Metru Nui_ , so I figured 'why not?'

Now with that being said, I don't have access to the comics (arg!) so I will be AU-ing parts I only have the basic plot with. I do have access to the movies (thank Primus for YouTube) so those will pretty much stay the same.

Now, as for that tiny, seventh tendril… XD

All shall be revealed in time!

…slaggit. I sound like Turaga Vakama.

'Till next time!


	4. Chapter 4: The Bitter Fall

A/N- Hey everyone! Not dead, just… distracted. Finales are coming up soon so I've been cramping with my studies.

"…"

"…!"

Doesn't help that my brother keeps stealing my calculator! Al, give that back!

 ** _CRASH!_**

* * *

As the ragtag group of heroes continued following the vine's path, they all noticed that it seemed to be getting hotter and hotter the farther they traveled.

"We must be getting near the Great Furnace," announced Nokama, "it's the hottest place in the entire Metru." Drawing on what was left of her elemental powers, she created a mist to try and keep the group cool as they proceeded.

Finally, they reached the source of the vine - a giant plant with a glowing orange stripe that ran down its length, and was attached to the Great Furnace. The entire chamber was crawling with multiple vines.

"What is that t-thing?" Emma whispered fearfully.

"The Morbuzahk," Whenua replied in a quiet voice, a terrified look in his green eyes, "it's a plant that has been terrorizing Metru Nui for quite some time."

"Hey, look!" Matau interrupted, and pointed to something above.

It was Vakama, hanging upside down over a fire pit and struggling against the Morbuzahk vines that restrained him by his wrists and ankles. Tucked under his chin was his Great Disc. Just then, he noticed them.

"Take it easy, fire-spitter, we're going to get you down." Onewa said quietly.

"Look out!" the Fire Toa warned, but it was too late. A vine struck Whenua in the chest, sending him crashing into the wall and another moved in, but the group dispersed.

"Emma, take cover, quickly!" Nokama ordered, blasting a vine with a jet on compressed water. The girl quickly dove for cover behind a nearby slab of metal.

The Toa fought with whatever of their elemental energies they had left, trying to get to their new brother. At one point Matau unleashed a powerful gust of wind to deflect some of the vines. The vines were repelled, but the gust also hit Vakama, causing him to lose his grip on his disc. The Toa of Fire could only look on in horror as he watched the Great Disc plunge toward the pit below.

In the last possible moment before it was to be melted, a water spout struck the disc and Onewa's hand caught it. Then, after dodging attacking vines, Matau leapt his way to Vakama and hacked away at his restraints with his blades, the plant screeching as he did. Nuju then created an ice slide and the two Toa slid to safety, but not before a vine smashed the ice and sent Vakama and Matau crashing to the ground.

"Vakama! Matau!" Emma cried out instinctively, fearing for her new friends. Before she knew what was happening, a vine wrapped itself around her torso and lifted her into the air with a scream of pain.

"Emma!" Nokama cried out.

Emma shrieked, the heat and roughness of the vine biting into her skin and tearing at her shirt. It brought her up to the king root, where she instinctively tried to scramble back as far back as possible, hissing as it continued to injure her via the intense heat and it's rough edges. A small vine reached out and, restrained as she was, Emma could not avoid its rough and burning touch as it felt her face, leaving a path of red and torn skin that came across her right cheek.

"Interesssting," a terrible voice sounded in her mind as the small vine pulled back. "Very interesssting indeed." Emma squawked in surprise, head whipping around wildly around as she searched for the source of the voice. "I'm right in front of you." The voice responded.

The girl stared at the plant before her for a moment before it struck her - she was hearing the creature's thoughts. And, they were terrible thoughts indeed; not only was it curious about her, no doubt because it had never seen a human before, but it was also planning to drive the Matoran to the outskirts of the city, making them its slaves, and claim itself as their master.

Worse, Emma and the Toa now realized they were wrong about the monster before them. It wasn't some wild rahi on a mindless rampage, it could think, it was cunning and evil, not-so pure and simple.

After a few moments that felt like an eternity, the Morbuzahk resumed its attack on the Toa Metru. Emma, meanwhile, began to struggle like crazy, pushing and tugging and hissing in pain. Then she remembered. _Of course!_

Thinking quickly, she stretched out her right hand, Vakama's disc launcher still in her grasp and after loading it with another exploding Kanohi, pulled the trigger. The Morbuzahk's shriek of pain echoed in their minds, and the vine released the girl.

Almost too late, Nuju saw her falling, leapt, and caught her. "Good catch." Emma complimented breathlessly, both from pain and from the adrenaline rush she was starting to feel.

"Thank you," said the Toa of Ice. "Nice shot."

"Thanks!" she managed a grin, rapidly reloading the launcher and firing again, making the Morbuzark screech in pain. "Take this you over grown weed!" _Payback!_

Unfortunately, the team soon realized that they were fighting a losing battle; all of the Toa's elemental powers were so weak they were practically useless, and Emma could not fight all of the vines off by herself even with the borrowed weapon, and at some point she was going to run out of discs. Seven vines shot up from the Great Furnace and grabbed them, the pressure so intense they thought they would get the air squeezed out of them, and the rough edges dug into Emma's middle again, making her have to bite back a scream.

"Before you ssserve, you will ssssuffer," said the Morbuzahk as it proceeded to bring its struggling captives down into the furnace.

"Not a chance!" proclaimed Vakama. "You had your season, monster, now it's time for the harvest." Turning to the others he cried "Everyone hold up your discs!"

The other Toa followed the Toa of Fire's lead, and, to everyone's astonishment, all six Great Discs flashed with power. Then, the energies merged to form a giant sphere around the Morbuzahk, which tried to escape. But, being a plant that was securely rooted, there wasn't much of anywhere it could go.

Emma and the Toa Metru decided there would not be a better chance to escape and struggled their way free of the vines that held them.

"We have to get out of here!" Vakama shouted above the cacophony of machinery crashing to the ground and the screaming of the Morbuzahk that echoed in their minds. They all ran as fast as they could go and dared not to stop until they were far away from the Great Furnace.

While the others fought to catch their breath, Vakama and Emma looked back to find the Morbuzahk completely caged in the sphere the Great Discs had created. And it was quite a cage; it had literally cut the monster off from the vines, higher branches, and roots that fed it energy and it the rest of its body. The vines writhed and turned to dust, any around the Great Furnace were pretty much disintegrated, but the show wasn't over yet. The energy sphere vanished and the king root crashed to the ground and crumbled until there was no sign of it, not even a pile of dust.

"Definitely something you don't see every day." Emma said in a half-attempt to lighten the mood, before handing her companion his weapon. The Toa of Fire slowly nodded even as he took back his disc launcher.

"How did you know the Great Discs would defeat that… _thing_?" asked Nokama as she and the other Toa moved to stand next to them.

"I had a vision of it just before it captured me." Vakama answered, sub-spacing his launcher.

"C'mon!" Matau said with a hint of excitement, drawing the groups thoughts away from the now dead plant. "What are we all standing around for? We've got ever-powerful discs and a message-announcement that we Toa-heroes are to deliver."

The group had to admit, this was one of those times that they all agreed with the Toa of Air. "And maybe, somehow, Turaga Dume can help you find a way to get you back to your home Emma." suggested Nokama.

Emma nodded, and when the Toa turned away, allowed a pained look to cross her face. _If only it would be that easy…_

After taking a moment to digest what just happened, the group simultaneously shrugged and they all headed for the Coliseum, tired, yet proud of themselves.

* * *

As the group came to the edge of Ta Metru, Nuju noticed that they were one short. Turning his head, the icy Toa spotted their young organic companion trailing behind them, arm wrapped around her middle and limping ever so slightly.

Taking a glance at the rest of his chatting siblings, Nuju turned back, jogging over to Emma.

The girl looked up as Nuju approached, a pained smile making its way onto her face. "Hey, Nuj."

The Toa ignored the nickname, instead looking her over with a critical and worried eye. "Are you alright?"

The thirteen year old shrugged, only to wince as her middle flared up.

Nuju's concern grew. Stopping Emma, he knelt down in front of her. "May I?" He asked, and the girl gave a hesitant nod, removing her arm from her middle and exposing the torn shirt.

Gently grabbing the front of her tee, the white Toa bit back a gasp as her midriff was exposed; the purple-red bruised skin covered in bleeding scrapes. Forcing down the anger that bubbled up, Nuju looked up at Emma. The girl's face was turned away, a few tears escaping her eyes.

He sighed, gently lowering the shirt before standing up. Turning to were the others were, he called to his sister. "Nokama!"

The Toa of Water stopped, turning around at the call. Seeing her icy brother beckoning her a bit frantically, Nokama turned away from the rest of the Toa Metru, who were now curiously looking at Nuju and the small girl that stood behind him.

Reaching the two, Nuju pulled her down to crouch in front of Emma. Nokama couldn't stifle the gasp that escaped her when she saw the extent of the injuries that the Morbuzahk had inflicted upon their young companion. Several similar gasps came from behind her as the rest of the Metru came over, and they surrounded Emma. The girl kept her gaze averted, tears now very visible.

"Hey," Vakama murmured softly as Nokama got to work on the wounds, bending down to be eye level with Emma, "it's okay."

The girl gave a small nod, but didn't make eye contact. Vakama's hand gently cupped the side of her face, guiding it to face him. The fire Toa's eyes widened when he saw the burned and torn skin on her right cheek. "Emma… why didn't you tell us?"

The girl mumbled something under her breath that suspiciously sounded like "I didn't wanna be a burden…"

Vakama sighed, but put a small smile on his face. "You're not a burden little _gi_." Emma looked at the Toa in surprise, the translation stone not translating the last word. However, instead of telling her what it meant, she was pulled into a hug by him, Nokama having finished healing her middle with her remaining water powers.

"Come on," Vakama smiled, gently taking Emma's smaller hand in his larger one, and together the group continued on their way to the coliseum, Nokama dealing with the cheek injury as they went.

* * *

Staying close to the Toa, Emma gazed in wonder as they walked down the chamber that would lead them to the arena, where Turaga Dume and, from the sound of it, all of the Matoran of Metru Nui were gathered. She could hardly believe she was inside a building whose top could not be seen from the base no matter how hard she craned her neck, the reason why she ended up, instead, looking into a chuckling Nuju's face after he caught her before she fell to the ground.

 _I still can't believe that this is real._ Emma thought with a bit of awe. Before she knew it, they were out in the sunlight with the crowd cheering for them.

"Hello Metru Nui!" Matau greeted. "I always wanted to loud-shout that."

Emma rolled her eyes in annoyance, a half attempt to hide her nervousness. "Of course you have."

They stopped before the platform that Turaga Dume stood on, where it over looked the arena. Emma ground her teeth. _Stinking lying Makuta…_

"Vakama," the apparent Turaga chuckled aloud. "Matoran one day, Toa the next. No wonder you have not yet completed the Mask of Time that I requested."

After the Toa of Fire apologized for the impediment of the mentioned mask's delivery, the Turaga noticed a small, clothe covered figure hidden amongst the Toa. "What is that?" he asked as he pointed to the center of the group. Towards the hidden Emma.

The next thing poor Emma knew, she was letting out a squawk of surprise as Whenua deftly hoisted her onto his shoulder.

"This is our companion Emma." The large black Toa announced, ignoring Emma's startled cry. "She was a big help in ridding Ta-Metru of the Morbuzahk plant."

The Toa of Earth's introduction was followed by gasps of intrigue and shock from the assembled Matoran. "I'm so going to hurt you for this, Whenua." Emma snarled through clenched teeth. A few Matoran who had heard her chuckled as she began to cuss him out. The Toa of Earth just ignored her with a grin.

When Whenua (finally!) set Emma down, earning himself a smack to the chest, Nokama explained that she and the other Toa came to deliver the Great Discs and to pledge themselves as the new guardians of Metru Nui.

However, Turaga Dume had a counter to that. "Toa must prove themselves with deeds," he chuckled, "not simple gifts."

With that, the platform began to rise, "Matoran of Metru Nui," Turaga Dume announced, "the Great Spirit has provided us with six new Toa, who will undoubtedly demonstrate their worthiness on this field of honour."

The Matoran gave a loud cheer in approval. This was going to be amazing!

Unfortunately, five of the Toa Metru had other thoughts.

Thinking that they went through all of their troubles for nothing, the five Toa handed their disks to Vakama. Emma found herself not believing what they were doing anymore than the Fire Toa. "Don't worry about it, Vakama," she said comfortingly. "We don't need those bunch of _chickens_ anyway."

She purposely mentioned 'chickens' with emphasis, and even though the word was foreign to the others, the meaning was clear, and received the expected result—the Toa stopped in their tracks and turned around. "Hey, now you take that back, runt." demanded Onewa, not believing that someone about three quarters his size actually had the guts to call him that, and with that tone.

"Make me," Emma dared, hands on hips and not backing down.

Vakama looked between the girl and his fellow Toa, wondering how he was going to handle this. Thankfully, it never came to that for Turaga Dume challenged them to cross the sea of protodermis. Then, if they were successful, they would be honored as heroes. Before the group could protest about Emma being involved in the test (she was still injured!), the arena began to shake and pillars of hardened protodermis rose and sunk unpredictably.

"What do we do now?" asked Onewa, there was no way they would be able to battle the pillars with their elemental energies completely exhausted, which left only one other possibility.

"We use our mask powers the Great Spirit gave us." answered Whenua.

"Great, and just how do we do _that_?" the Toa of Stone inquired once more and in the process bringing up a good point. Not one of the Toa were able to use the powers of their masks, let alone had any clue what those powers were supposed to be.

"Follow me!" Nokama shouted.

Following the blue Toa's lead, everyone rode over a tidal wave of pillars, only to be blocked by a wall. Unable to think of anything else to do, the group scattered, trying to avoid the pillars that threatened to crush them.

Poor Onewa got knocked into the air when a bunch of pillars erupted beneath him. The pillars then started to toss him back and forth like a pair of sea lions tossing a beachball, then launched him high in the air. Gravity soon took over, and the brown Toa met the ground completely undignified.

Matoran in the audience pointed and laughed, finding Onewa's misfortune rather hilarious.

Soon after, Emma was nearly bowled over when a pillar shot up beside her, forcing her to do a flip and earning her some surprised looks from the crowd at her (completely unknown) agility. As she frantically tried to find some safe spot amongst all of the chaos, she heard a shout.

"Look out!" Nuju called to Emma, but before she could find out what he meant, she was thrown high into the air by two pillars. Having to dodge pillars themselves, the Toa minus a groaning Onewa were unable to do anything to help and could only watch as she crashed back to the ground. Slightly groaning, Emma forced herself to her feet, only to surprise herself by doing so.

 _No way, a fall like that should have killed me or broken something._ She thought with surprise, pushing herself up with a grunt of pain as the bruises on her torso flared, leaving her to curse out the Morbuzark. Emma's curses were interrupted, though, when a shadow fell over her.

Another tidal wave of pillars, bigger than the last one, was heading toward her and the others. Try as they might, they couldn't outrun it, and found themselves being thrown painfully about the arena as if they were mere ants.

"Enough." Turaga Dume declared, and the field was returned to normal. As the group helped each other get to their feet, they heard a sound that none of them was expecting to hear anymore than they were expecting this kind of test - the booing and jeering of the crowd.

"Let us praise these jesters," Dume chuckled. "Perhaps they sought to entertain us during this… _difficult_ time. Or," his voice turned sharp, "are they _imposters_!"

"No!" Vakama protested. "We are Toa!"

But Dume continued, and this time with anger in his voice. "Responsible for Toa Lhikan's demise!"

The crowd continued to boo and jeer, and Vakama's eyes narrowed. Realizing that this was getting out of control, Emma grabbed the Toa's arm. "Wait-!"

But he ignored her. "No, it was them! They took him!" Vakama pointed to one of the screens that showed two scary looking beings approaching Dume. One was green, walked on four insectoid-like legs, and had a pair of mean looking pincer-claws for hands. The other was big and powerful and had one eye that still functioned.

The Turaga, however, ignored him, instead ordering, "Seize them!" and the Vahki moved in.

For whatever reason, the Matoran who operated the arena had other plans and pressed a button. The field started to tremble.

"Now what?!" Whenua shouted over the din.

His answer soon came. A pit formed in the middle of the arena, and the tornado that soon formed after threatened to suck in everything. _Everything_ including the Toa and Emma.

The Toa and their human friend started to run for cover, but the force of the tornado was too strong. Nuju tripped, barely managing to grab the ground with a cry.

Nokama quickly took notice. "Nuju hang on!" She cried.

It was in vain, as Nuju lost his grip. With a scream of "Help me!" he disappeared.

Onewa was soon also overpowered, and lost his grip on the ground. The Toa was sent flying into the air, crashing in Whenua and sending both tumbling into the air.

"Brothers!" Nokama shouted, but it was too in vain as they too disappeared, the suction threatening to pull her in as well. Thinking quickly, Nokama dug one of her axes into the ground to anchor herself.

Near her, Matau tumbled past, barely managing to do the same with his blades. Nokama caught Vakama's foot as the Toa slid up to her, stopping him from being pulled in as well.

"Help!" Emma screamed, tumbling towards the two.

"Emma!" Vakama yelled, reaching out an arm, "Grab on!"

Emma twisted mid air, reaching out and snagging the outstretched arm. She winced as her arm was nearly yanked out of its socket.

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to continue to hold on to her like this, he yanked her to his chest. "Hold on tight!" Vakama hissed. Emma quickly complied, wrapping her arms around his neck and legs around his torso, tucking her head into his chest, her hat miraculously still on her head.

Ahead of them, the army of Vahki was still proceeding to take the remaining four into custody.

Knowing they had to do something and fast, the Lhikan statue standing near the exit gave Nokama an idea. "Vakama! The statue, bring it down!" the Toa of Water instructed. Quickly catching on, the Fire Toa immediately summoned his launcher and a disc, only to find it wasn't the right disc. The Vahki continued to make their way to the Toa.

"Here Vakama!" Emma shouted above the howling wind, pulling out another exploding Kanohi disc with her left hand, thankful that she had kept one stashed in her bag after their run in with the Morbuzahk.

The Toa of Fire quickly grabbed and loaded said disc, firing it at the base of the statue. The resulting explosion caused the statue to fall behind the Vahki, and a horrified silence to befall the audience. The tremor caused by the fallen icon sent the law enforcers into the tornado's grasp and enough of them were sucked in that Emma and the remaining Toa could crawl their way safely to the exit.

As they fled, Vakama turned to glare at the imposing figure of Turaga Dume. _How dare he-!_

"Vakama!" Emma skidded to a stop next to the eight foot Toa, having turned back when she noticed that her friend was not following. "We need to go! Now!"

Emma grabbed Vakama's arm, tugging the Toa of Fire towards the fleeing forms of Nokama and Matau. "C'mon!"

"But Dume-!"

"-Will still be there!" The human grunted as she pulled her larger companion. "Unless you want to join the others in captivity, **_move_**!"

"But-!"

"No buts!" Emma locked eyes with Vakama. "Remember the missions! If we're captured, who's going to complete them?!"

Vakama sighed, but conceded. "Alright. Let's go then."

And with that, the four fled the coliseum, leaving a crowd of confused Matoran and an angry Dume behind.

* * *

A/N- And thus begins the adventure!

And yes, Emma cussed out Whenua, 'cause I doubt that she liked that. She _did_ ream out Onewa royally last chapter.

As for her surviving the fall… let's just say that the tendril from the previous chapter has a small role in that. A role that will be revealed later on.

As for now, they are on the run, and with half the Toa power.

I'll try to update around Christmas or New Years, but no promises.

'Till next time!


	5. Chapter 5: Escaping the Hunters

A/N- Hey Everyone! Happy Holidays! Here is my present to you all! A new chapter!

I would give it to you tomorrow, but Christmas was kinda booked. So, Merry Christmas, and Enjoy! XD

* * *

"Somehow, that was not exactly the big 'welcome' I was expecting." Emma noted with sarcasm as the group ran towards the edge of an airship dock.

"'Welcomes' nothing, we've been betrayed." Vakama responded.

"We've got to save the others." said Nokama as she looked around wildly.

"To do that," Vakama informed, "we need to find our mask powers."

"I agree," Nokama said, looking behind her, "but we have to get out of here. C'mon."

She dove into a chute down below as her friends watched from above.

Emma gulped. "I'm not so sure about-!" Any other words she had were cut of as Matau shoved both her and Vakama in with a "What are you waiting for?", before he dived down with a shout. He then belly flopped on top of the chute with an "…ow…" before being swept up in the current.

Instantly, Emma was pulled forward by the protodermis and, to her amazement, was somehow able to breathe in the strange gel-like substance. Before long, Vakama was at her side and they mounted a transport cart. Spotting the Toa of Air up ahead, Vakama leaned down and reached his hand out while Emma held on to his waist. The red Toa caught the Air Toa's hand, his momentum carrying them down a little ways, then he hauled his brother onto the cart. Catching up to Nokama, they trailed her down the chute.

Suddenly, the protodermis came to a complete stop and everything seemed to stand still. Emma looked to Vakama who looked to Matau who shrugged, just as confused as they were.

Then, the current came back… only in _reverse_.

"Hang on!" cried Nokama as the current carried them down back the way they came. The cart bumped into the wall of the chute, causing its three passengers to lose their grip and hurtle out of control.

Thinking quickly, Nokama used one of her axes to hook onto one of the rings that stabilized the chute. Vakama and Emma were approaching fast and the Toa of Fire grabbed onto Nokama's spare blade as the girl wrapped her arms around his neck, and Vakama grabbed hold of Matau's ankle as he passed over. The Air Toa twisted around and used one of his blades to cut them a way out.

However, a large transport cart came down a little low, and forced them out of the chute. Nokama and Vakama acted at the same time: Vakama let go of Nokama's axe and moved his grip down to her ankle, and Nokama hooked both axes onto the ring, saving them from falling to the ground far below.

"Is everyone alright?" Nokama called down.

Emma glanced up from where she was still clinging to Vakama's neck. "Define 'alright'?"

The three Toa and one human were now dangling from one of the chutes supports like a stubborn vine. And the ground was very, _very_ far below them. Emma buried her face into Vakama's back. _Toohightoohightoo high…!_

The dangling Toa of Air, however, grinned. "Sure-fine! Just enjoying the view! Whoo-who-ho-hooo!"

Emma groaned even as she tightened her grip. "Seriously Matau?!" She hissed out. _Too high!_

"Vakama? Vakama!" Emma jerked her head up as she heard Nokama try to get said Toa's attention. The red Toa appeared to be spaced out, but suddenly shook his head as he snapped out of it.

"Another vision?" The blue Toa asked.

Before Vakama could reply, Matau cut in, sounding panicked. "How about less vision-seeing, and more Toa-saving!"

The dangling group was suddenly jerked downwards as a container smashed into her axes.

"We're slipping!" Nokama yelped in realization.

Vakama looked around wildly through the blizzard. A dark shape was visible in the near distance. "Can we make it to that tower?!"

Spotting what Vakama saw, Nokama started using her free foot to swing. "We're going to have to!" She grunted.

The dangling heroes started to swing back and forth, gaining momentum, until-

Nokama gave a yell, and her axes were pulled from the support. The group fell yelling, and flipped in the air.

Matau started crying. "This is good this is good-!"

Nokama's axes dug into the tower, halting their fall. The group swung back and forth as their momentum tried to push them forwards.

Emma scrambled as she adjusted her grip, preventing herself from falling. Her arms were still wrapped around Vakama's neck, but now her legs were around his middle. And somehow, she still hadn't lost her hat.

Matau whistled in relief. "That was clo-ooooaaaah!" Too soon.

Vakama lost his grip on the Toa of Air's foot. "Matau!"

Emma watched in horror as Matau fell. The green Toa yelled as he saw the quickly approaching ground. "Uh oh!"

Suddenly, his twin blades appeared on his back in an x shape. The blades glowed, before splitting open, creating a pair of circular wings. With a laugh, Matau soared through the blizzard, avoiding the ground.

Above him, Nokama and Vakama, with Emma still clinging to his back like a leach, began their descent.

Vakama watched as Matau flew. "Has he found his mask power?"

"Look at me!" Matau crowed. "I can-!"

From where Emma clung to the Toa of Fire's back, she shook her head. "I don't-"

She was cut off, as Matau, not watching where he was going, slammed face first into a large poster of Turaga Dume.

Nokama shook her head. "Maybe not…"

Matau groaned as he slid down the poster. "-wind… fly…"

Emma, despite the situation, burst out laughing. "Nice aim Matau! Right between the eyes!"

* * *

After making it safely to the ground, Nokama and Matau started trying to sort out what they were going to do. Seeing as they were now fugitives, they needed a game plan. However, Matau was more interested in showing off his new wings.

Vakama, on the other hand, sat on the ground. He frowned as he looked at the two discs in his hands, the rest of the Great Discs in his subspace. Curiously, he tapped Nokama's disc against the one he had retrieved.

"Vakama?" The Toa yelped at the voice behind him. He spun in surprise, holding the two discs in front of him in defence.

Emma winced from where she stood behind him. "Sorry."

Vakama sighed, calming down as he realized that it was just his new human friend. "It's alright."

The human girl knelt down beside him. "What are you doing?" She asked in curiosity.

Vakama sighed. "I am trying to figure out which one of these is the disc I need."

Emma nodded, remaining silent. She knew _exactly_ what the Toa was talking about.

Vakama started shaking the two discs. _One of these great discs has got to be the Mask of Time…_

The two discs started glowing. With wide eyes, the two watched as the discs tried to merge. Vakama stared in shock, pulling them apart. _Maybe…_

Holding the two together, Emma and Vakama watched as the two merged into one disc. "Remarkable…" The Toa breathed.

Vakama quickly pulled out Matau's disc, and the two watched as the same process repeated, leaving behind one blank disc.

"Vakama? Emma?" Nokama asked as she came up behind the two. "C'mon…"

"What!" Vakama jerked. "Just a moment-!"

"Vakama we've got to go." The Toa of Water insisted.

"But the discs-!"

As Emma watched the two, something in the sky caught her eye. "Look!" She pointed.

The Toa looked up, and gasped at the sight of the golden star that shot across the sky.

"Toa Lhikan's spirit star!" Vakama exclaimed, his voice filled with newfound hope. "Each Toa has one! As long as it burns in the night sky Toa Lhikan remains alive!"

Nokama recognized the direction the star was heading. "It's heading towards Po-Metru!"

Matau cut in then. "What about our captured Toa-brothers?!" He exclaimed.

Vakama's voice was serious as he spoke. "We need Toa Lhikan to stop Turaga Dume and free the other Toa."

Matau frowned. "And how do you prepose we quick-catch a spirit star?!" Sarcasm dripped heavily in his voice.

A rumbling came from behind them. Nokama grinned. "Perhaps a way has been revealed, rider."

The Vahki transport that Nokama spotted was going in the same direction as the star. Catching up to it, the four climbed up, and hitched a ride on the tail end.

Inside, Emma took notice of some large ball things. "What are these?" She questioned curiously, a bad feeling tingling along her spine.

"Storage containers," answered Matau, "but most odd-looking."

Curious, Vakama laid a hand on one of the spheres, only to just stare off into space.

 _Another vision._ Emma remembered.

A moment later, the Toa of Fire's senses returned to normal and he immediately opened the canister, claiming that the Matoran were in danger. Only, there was nothing in there.

"You crossed-wired?" asked Matau, and then yelped as he felt a sharp jab to his side. He looked down at the only person who could've done it, but Emma was looking out the back innocently.

When she felt his eyes on her, she glanced back at him and asked, "What?"

Scratching his head, the Toa of Air let it slide. Nokama, meanwhile, was trying very hard not to laugh, let alone smile, for she saw the whole thing. Emma flashed the blue Toa a smirk, before moving away from the back and deeper into the transport. She was tired, so a nap was in order.

* * *

A/N- And Lhikan lives! Of course, if you've seen the movie you'd know that.

I'm not going to include the scenes with the captured Toa and their mysterious cell mate. I want to focus on Emma's part in the plot. Sorry that this was so short, but I'm running short on time.

Now excuse me, but I need to… SPARKS! No, bad cat! Get away from the cookies! Those aren't for you! Bad cat!


	6. Chapter 6: Chasing a Tragic Spirit

A/N- Happy Late New Year! Sorry this came out late! I meant to update on the first, but I was dragged to a family party that day, and the second was spent studying for my next set of classes.

So… no reviews? Kinda disappointing. I'd love to have some feedback, so I can correct anything that's off.

Now then, onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle, just my OC's.

Warning: Severe trauma implied.

* * *

As the transport moved along, Nokama glanced over at Vakama. The Toa was sitting forlornly in the back, head bent and legs dangling. She knew what he was thinking about. "Vakama, your destiny no longer lies in sculpting masks." she said. "You are a Toa."

"I'll never be a real Toa," the Toa of Fire sighed. "I can't even make a decent mask. I'm just a crossed-wired freak who has weird dreams." He sighed dejectedly, "Toa Lhikan, you got it wrong."

The Toa of Water knelt beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder as she said, "You will. Have faith."

* * *

Towards the back of the transport, Matau, who was examining one of the pods, froze as a whimper came from behind him. Twisting his head, the Toa of Air looked for where the distress could be coming from. Seeing nothing, he turned back to his observations, believing that the whimper was nothing more than his imagination. However, when he heard it a second time, he scanned behind him again, this time his gaze falling over Emma. The girl was curled into a tight ball, gloved fists clenching and unclenching as her face twisted in distress.

"Uh, guys?" Matau called back as he moved over beside Emma. "I think something's bad-wrong with Emma-friend."

Vakama and Nokama looked up, and quickly made their way over to the now very distressed sleeping girl.

"N-No…" she whimpered, a few tears streaming down her reddened cheeks, "st-stay 'way…"

"Emma," Nokama gently placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, "it's just a-"

The Toa of Water was cut off however, as upon contact, Emma's eyes snapped open, revealing, for a brief second, solid arctic blue with glowing white pupils. With a scream of terror, the thirteen year old scrambled backwards, tumbling over her bag that she had been using as a makeshift pillow, and shooting into a narrow space between two of the pods. She huddled in the fetal position, arms wrapped around her knees and head buried in them, shaking and crying.

The three Toa had frozen at her cry, and were now starting at her with a mixture of shock and hurt.

"What's bad-wrong with Emma-friend?" Matau asked, eyes wide.

Vakama frowned in concern. "From all appearances, it seems as though she suffered from a night-terror."

Nokama meanwhile shifted closer to Emma's hiding spot, crouching down near it and peeking inside. Emma let out a small squeak when she saw Nokama's blue eyes peering at her, and scrambled backwards in a panic.

"Emma wait-!" Nokama cried out, reaching in to pull her out. A red hand grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Not like that," Vakama said, "here."

Crouching in front of the space, Vakama, with his personal translation stone in hand, started murmuring in a strange language, keeping his voice soft and calm. As Nokama and Matau watched, Emma surprisingly began to uncurl little by little.

" _Shh… it's alright little one,_ " Vakama murmured in almost perfect English. " _Shh…_ "

It took a little while, as well as several soothing English words, but soon Vakama had a shaking bundle of keening human in his lap.

"Whoa…" Matau stared at the two who were now leaning against a pod, Emma completely curled in Vakama's hold, one ear pressed against the Toa's tri-beating heartlight.

"Poor girl," Nokama murmured, kneeling in front of the two. Gently reaching out, she lightly pressed her fingers against Emma's cheek. The girl whimpered, but with a few soothing words from Vakama, didn't shy away from her this time.

The three Toa exchanged saddened looks, and crowded around the young girl. Together, they were able to get her to relax, and, eventually, fall back into a much calmer sleep.

Even still, one terrifying thought lingered; What could have traumatized Emma so much that she would have that bad of a panic attack after being touched during a night-terror?

* * *

A few hours later, Matau announced that they were at Po-Metru. As they prepared to jump ship, he went to get Emma, who was still sleeping. "Hey, wake up." he said as he gently shook her shoulder, careful not to trigger another panic attack.

"Wha… we there yet?" the girl asked groggily as she rubbed her eyes. Matau nodded with a small, relieved chuckle as they joined Nokama and Vakama at the open back, and they all jumped off.

"Stick close," said Matau as the group got up. "Bad things happen in the desert."

"Th-they do?" Emma asked a little nervously, though still tiredly. _Why does it feel like I've had no sleep?_

Before the Toa of Air could say anything, Nokama, lighting a lamp, replied, "Don't listen to him, Emma, he doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Fine. Don't listen to me, teacher." Matau retorted, a little disappointed that she had to spoil his joke. He then called out to anyone who might be in the village. " _Hel-lo-o!_ "

His own echo answered them.

The group did not like this one bit; it was far too quiet and not a single light was on in any of the huts, giving the place a very eerie feeling. Worse, there was a pile of the same containers that the transport was carrying, and Emma could've sworn she heard something like multiple tri-heartbeats coming from them. She would've investigated further, but found she and Vakama were being left behind and they ran to keep up with the rest of the Toa.

"Hello, anybody here?" she called out and, just like last time, there nothing but an echo. "They all run off?"

"They must have all quick-sped." Matau theorized at the same time.

Nokama shook her head, "Builders do not abandon their projects without good reason."

Vakama stopped, asking, "Then, where is everyone?"

Emma had a good suspicion, but thought better of it. After all, what would happen if she spoke up about the Matoran?

Before anything could be said, a voice called out to them. "Over here Toa!"

"Krekka!" Vakama snarled.

It was Krekka alright, the big and ugly guy from the Coliseum, and he fired a disk-shaped beam of red energy. Moving quickly, Nokama spun her axes and deflected Krekka's blasts. With the Toa of Water shielding them, Emma and the Toa ran for cover behind a hut.

But, Matau would have none of it and immediately ran back out to confront the enemy.

"A Toa-hero knows no fear!" he declared as he took out his blades and dodged another blast from Krekka. But with his focus on Krekka, Matau never noticed Nidhiki come up from behind, releasing a beam of green energy from his mouth that quickly met its target. Matau fell to the ground with a startled cry and found that, to his horror, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't move, let alone get up. The green energy was messing with his motor functions.

"Help!" He called out desperately. "Vakama! Nokama! Emma! There's a Toa down!"

Seeing the two fiends move in for the capture, Vakama ran out from their cover to help his friend. When her attempt to stop him failed, Nokama saw no choice but to accompany her brother. Looking around wildly, Emma caught sight of a large spear resting against a nearby hut. Getting a really reckless idea, the girl shot towards the spear, grabbed it, and ran to join the two able bodied Toa.

All three readied themselves, Vakama with his disk launcher, Nokama spinning her axes, and Emma readying her new found spear, they charged. Nidhiki prepared another blast when, all of a sudden, the entire canyon began to shake.

"What's going on? Are you doing that?" asked Krekka.

"Now what?" Nidhiki inquired, ignoring his dimwitted partner.

The shaking steadily got more and more violent, causing boulders and rocks to tumble over the edges of the canyon. "Bio-quake?" the Toa of Fire looked to the Water Toa for an answer.

It wasn't reassuring. "Worse." Nokama replied.

In the distance, a huge cloud of dust appeared around the corner and gigantic, horned beasts could be seen stampeding in a hop-like fashion.

"What the heck-?!" gasped Emma.

"Kikanalo!" Nokama answered as her eyes widened.

At that moment, Nidhiki and Krekka decided now would be a good time to get out of the way of the Rahi, leaving a still restrained Matau in their path. The Toa of Air doubled his efforts to get up, but it was no use; soon, the Rahi would be upon him and his elemental powers had still not recovered. Vakama dared to run in and free his friend, just before his head would've been flattened by a Kikanalo's foot, and they joined up with Emma and Nokama.

While they waited for the herd to move on, Emma noticed that while Nidhiki jumped into a trench that the animals leaped over, Krekka had climbed up a bar-cage that served as a ladder around a statue. However, this proved to be a big mistake when one of the beasts rammed into one of the supports, and the Dark Hunter's weight made it fall—right on top of Nidhiki. Emma grimaced, then grinned, _That's gonna leave a mark._

Just then, the Toa and human found themselves being pursued by the herd and ran for it.

"I was wrong, you were right, my brother." Nokama apologized to Matau.

"It's amazing what you can learn when you're not always speak-teaching." Replied the Toa of Air.

As the four continued running, the Toa of Water heard a voice cry out " _Stop!_ "

"What did you say?" she asked Matau, thinking it was him.

"I didn't say-!" the Air Toa began, then noticed that the Toa of Water's mask gleaming a blue light. "Why the mask-glow?"

 _My mask?_ thought Nokama, and she formed an idea.

Vakama, Matau, and Emma jumped into a trench, and looked back to find that Nokama was still out there, facing the herd. She heard Vakama call out to her, but she ignored them, staying her ground.

"Nokama no!" Emma cried out, and against her better judgment, climbed out of the trench and raced towards her friend.

"Emma stop!" Vakama tried to grab her, but the girl was already out of the Toa's reach.

As the human neared Nokama, the Toa held up her hand and said in the Rahi's language, " _Stop!_ " Immediately, the leader and the entire herd dug their feet into the ground, finally skidding to a halt right in front of Nokama and Emma.

Matau whooped and Vakama just couldn't believe his eyes. Emma stared in shock.

"My mask power." awed Nokama. The Kikanalo roared, and she understood every single sound. "The Chief wants to know why we are allied with the Dark Hunters." She translated.

"Tell him we're not," said Vakama as he, along with Matau, came up behind her. "We seek a friend who's been taken by the Hunters."

The Toa of Water did so, and the beast roared in a more gentle way. "We are… free to pass since we are both against the Hunters who… trespass the beauty of the Herdlands." she translated.

" _Beauty_. Where?" Matau scoffed, elbowing Vakama. "And, who knew Kikanalo could think-talk? I just thought they were dumb beasts."

The Chief Kikanalo roared and Nokama translated with a chuckle, "Kikanalo still think the same of tall green Matoran."

"Hey hey h- _hey_! _I'm_ a _Toa_!" the Toa of Air corrected.

That's when a thought struck Vakama. "Wait, wait. Tall Matoran? Ask him if the Dark Hunters trespassed with a tall Matoran."

Again, Nokama translated the question into the Kikanalo's language and the Rahi responded. "Yes," she deciphered, "They take many things to the 'Place of Unending Whispers'."

"That must be where they have Toa Lhikan," Vakama realized.

"They will show us the way," the Water Toa announced.

Just then, the group could hear Emma having some trouble and found her surrounded by quite a few of the younger members of the herd, all sticking their noses at her, sniffing, apparently curious. At the same time, Emma was trying to get away from them, without success. Finally, the crowd dispersed and one of the Kikanalo communicated to the Chief while Emma instantly joined the Toa, as if for protection. The Chief communicated to Nokama, who said, "They've decided."

"Decided what?" asked Vakama.

"That Emma's some kind of Matoran-rahi mix." she chuckled.

While the Toa laughed, Emma wasn't sure whether to join them, or give them all a death glare. She finally settled on crossing her arms and scowling, but the others only laughed harder. The Chief and two other Kikanalo soon allowed the Toa and girl to mount them, and they were off.

* * *

A/N- and the journey continues, now with new allies in the Kikanolo. And I thought that it would be funny to have the Kikanolo inspect Emma. After all, they've never seen a human before.

Emma, on the other hand, was not impressed in the least.

Please, for the love of God, review! I don't know where any mistakes or inconsistencies are if I don't get feedback.


	7. Chapter 7: Canyon of Spirits

A/N- Hey there! Update is here!

First of, big shout out to AllSpark Princess for being my first reviewer reviewer. Much appreciated and don't worry, this story is only the beginning of a long and crazy ride for Emma.

Secondly, gotta huge request for you guys.

You see, I have limited access to the Bionicle franchise, so I require some help. I have no idea what happens during the Bohrok saga and the coming of the Toa Mata, along with anything else before the Mask of Light movie.

I am asking for any of you wonderful writers and readers to write a manuscript or even a play script about what happens. It needs to be to the letter and word for word what happens, and very well detailed. It needs the exact dialogue and actions of each of the characters. I ask that it be on Google docs, so it can be shared with me. Just PM me or leave a review about it and I can leave you my email address.

I know that this big of a request deserves a reward, so I will give whoever submits the most well written and accurate script two things;

1) the opportunity to submit a human OC to participate in my storyline

2) a heads up of what's to come **AFTER** the final battle of Bara Magna

As for timeline, I update monthly at the longest, a week at the least, so you have until the end of the Hordika arc to do so. As a warning, I have only one more chapter after this one before I start the Hordika arc, so be prepared.

Your help is much appreciated, and I cannot wait to see what you create. Thank you.

Now then, onto the story.

Disclaimers: I don't own anything except my OC.

* * *

The few remaining hours of the night passed, and Emma had just settled herself behind Vakama on the Kikanolo they were riding when Matau whooped excitedly.

"Only a great Toa-rider could tame a wild Kikanalo-beast!" crowed the Air Toa, only to have his Kikanalo ride buck him off. The next thing he knew, he was hanging upside down due to his foot being caught in the Rahi's vertebrae cables. With the Rahi still walking, he couldn't pull himself up.

Emma nearly fell off her mount, she started laughing so hard. It was only the fact that her grip had tightened around the fire Toa's waist that kept her from ending up in a similar position.

"It seems a great Toa-rider just got tamed." Nokama chuckled from her perch on the lead Kikanolo.

Vakama stiffled his own chuckles, and the Kikanalo groaned in a way that sounded like it was laughing. Matau, however, was not amused. "Very funny. Very, very funny." he scowled with his arms crossed in front of his chest. That, sadly, made him look more ridiculous.

"Stop laughing!"

* * *

"Vahki," the Toa of Air gasped at the sight below him, "hundreds of them." The group had finally arrived at their destination and was surveying the bottom of a canyon from the cliff above. Rows upon rows of Vahki Zadakh were lined up, guarding a doorway that was carved in the shape of a mask.

"That must be where Toa Lhikan is." said Nokama.

"What should we do now?" Emma asked, "How do we get in there with them in the way?"

"I have a plan…" answered Vakama and he quickly explained it to his friends.

* * *

Nokama, riding the Chief Kikanalo, moved in, trying her best not to feel too nervous. Vakama's plan was simple; divide the Vahki, get them to go in different directions and draw them away from their posts. A well thought out idea, and timing was going to mean everything.

A small squad of the enforcers spotted her and she dared them to chase her, which they were more than happy to oblige when her ride started moving.

A little way's away, Matau did the same with another small squad, and it was finally Vakama and Emma's turn. Getting the remaining group to follow them, they led them into a boxed part of the canyon and waited as the Vahki advanced, certain that the two fugitives were cornered. Once they were close enough, five Kikanalo leaped down between the two and the Vahki.

For a moment, the Vahki just stood there, as if confused. Why would these Rahi wish to protect these two?

Before they could do anything about it, the Kikanalo used their sonic roars to send the Vahki packing while causing Emma and Vakama to cover their ears from the loud echo.

 _Guess that's why they call it the 'Place of Unending Whispers'._ Thought Emma with a grimace. _**Ow…**_

Hopping onto their Kikanalo, the Toa of Fire and a slightly disoriented human girl met up with Nokama and dismounted at the doorway. It didn't take long for Matau to join them.

"Hey, Kikanalo," said the green Toa as he jumped off, "whose your mas-". The Rahi growled at him, making him think twice. "I mean, who's your _partner_?" Liking that term much better, the Kikanalo gave the Air Toa an approving lick, much to Matau's disgust and the others' amusement.

Emma smiled and gently patted and stroked her and Vakama's Kikanalo, who rumbled contentedly; they all made a good team. She grimaced as her head pounded, and the Kikanolo gently nuzzled her in an attempt to comfort her. "Thank you." The girl whispered with a chuckle.

The Chief roared, gaining their attention. Nokama was quick to translate, "The Chief said 'Not bad - for 'flat-walkers'."

Emma gave a snort at that as the Kikanolo beside her gave a rumbling laugh.

"They will cover our herd tracks." Nokama finished.

Vakama turned to the Kikanalo and informed them that Toa Lhikan would be indebted to them and joined the others. Once they were inside, the Kikanalo used their roars to create an avalanche of boulders and rocks.

"If they seal us in, how will we get out?" Matau asked in worry.

"Don't worry," Nokama reassured, "we'll find a way."

Unbeknownst to them, Nivawk was spying on them and flew to relay the news to his master.

* * *

At the Coliseum, a small red figure was smiling to himself. Everything was going perfectly, all that remained were a few more things and his plan would be complete. Just then, Nivawk swooped in and told the figure in his own chittering dialogue of what he witnessed.

"Excellent," the figure confirmed, then turned his attention to a mask that reflected his Kraahkan. The figure smirked, "Dume's mask has been very useful. Now for its final task." The Makuta grinned evilly as he placed the mask in over his own. "The future will be mine, even without the Mask of Time."

* * *

Meanwhile, Emma and the three Toa continued making their way down the tunnel when they heard voices. Matau volunteered to scout ahead, but Nokama voiced her concern that it could be Vahki.

"Exactly." the Toa of Air smiled mischievously, and used his new-found mask power to change into a Vahki, a Rorzakh to be exact.

"Neat." Emma nodded with approval.

The Air Toa saluted and went ahead of them. As he got closer, he realized he recognized the voices, his three missing brother Toa. He was about to go greet them when a better, and a much more fun, idea crossed his mind. Instead, he charged right at a startled Whenua, who was in the lead, tackled him to the ground, and laughed at his friend's fright.

"Hey, turn out the bright-light!" he cried out as a light shone in his face, and surprised the heck out of the other Toa.

"Matau?" questioned the Toa of Earth; he thought he recognized that voice.

Laughing, the Air Toa reverted back to normal, " _Toa_ Matau to you, Whenua."

The other Toa couldn't believe it; Matau could shapeshift and Nokama could translate both written texts as well as spoken languages. For the other half of the group, they were surprised to find out Whenua could see in the dark/through objects; Nuju could levitate objects; and Onewa could use mind control. Sadly, Vakama still had yet to discover his mask power and felt left out.

"How did you know we would be here?" Nuju questioned.

"To tell you the truth, we didn't." answered Vakama. "We came for Toa Lhikan."

"He's not here." Onewa shrugged, then turned to the sound of a Turaga's chuckling.

"Well, not exactly." And the Turaga standing behind the once captive Toa removed his helmet, revealing a mask that all of the Toa Metru and Emma knew all too well.

"Toa Lhikan?" asked Vakama, shocked by his friend's new appearance.

"No, Vakama, you are Toa. I am _Turaga_ Lhikan." Lhikan responded.

Whenua spoke up, taking the question out of his brothers' mouths, "Why didn't you tell us who you were?"

"Your task was to discover who _you_ are," the new Turaga explained, "only with such knowledge would your powers reveal themselves."

"Hold on," said Emma as a thought crossed her mind. "If you're a Turaga now, where did your Toa power go?"

"It lives on in Vakama and the others," Lhikan answered, looking at the girl curiously for a moment, and then turned to the Toa of Fire, "Tell me, 'The Heart of Metru Nui', you have it safe?"

The Fire Toa looked at him uncertainly, "Well, we're rescuing you now." He answered.

"Oh, you are so misguided," the Turaga sighed sadly. "I am not Metru Nui's heart. The Matoran are."

Though there was no anger in those words, they still hit everyone, especially Vakama, like a ton of bricks. All of this time, they thought they were doing what their predecessor had asked of them, when it now turned out they misunderstood.

Vakama sighed, looking away from Turaga Lhikan. "Then I failed you. I told you!" He turned away. "I'm a crossed-wired freak! Chasing my dreams and wasting everyone's time! I'll never be a real Toa!"

Vakama walked off, a dejected look on his face. Emma immediately followed after him.

"Vakama…"

Nokama tried to follow as well, but Lhikan grabbed her arm. "Wait… we cannot help Vakama. He must learn to believe in himself." The five Toa watched as the five and foot nine girl caught up to Vakama. "Only then will he find his destiny."

Lhikan then turned to them, a curious expression on his mask. "Though I must ask, who is that that you have brought with you? I do not recognize her."

It was Nuju who answered, his voice sullen from the revelation. "Her name is Emma. She's what her kind call a human, and she came from another world."

Lhikan hummed in thought as he processed this new information. "I see…"

* * *

"Vakama?" Emma placed her hand on her friend's shoulder after catching up to him. The Toa flinched under her touch, but did not answer.

Instead he leaned on one of the sphere shaped canisters, a look of sadness and dejection on his face. That's when he heard it; a faint, but strong tri-beat.

"What…?" Vakama placed his hand on the canister much like he had in the Vahki Transport.

The canister suddenly glowed an orange light upon the contact, and with a hissing sound, the pod opened. The two flinched back, shock and surprise written on their faces.

Vakama yelled when he saw what was inside. "T-Turaga Dume?!"

"The _true_ Turaga Dume." Emma yelped as Lhikan came up from behind them. "As I feared… an imposter is posing as a mask we all trust."

Vakama's eyes widened as a voice echoed in his head, growing from Dume's peaceful voice to a darker, more malevolent sound. _Bring me the Mask of TIME…_

"If this is Turaga Dume-?" Onewa started.

Vakama placed a hand on the Toa of Stone's shoulder. "You don't want to know who's really in control of Metru Nui."

Suddenly, they heard a chorus of snarls coming their way; the Vahki had found them.

"Vahki!" Matau yelled. "Run now talk later!"

"In here!" Whenua led them into a room and closed the door, but it wouldn't hold them off for long.

"We've got to find a way out!" Nuju shouted.

"But our only exit is blocked!" Whenua retorted.

"Now what?!"

Vakama looked around him. He and his friends were in danger and there was nowhere for them to run or hide. Then, a Vahki transport caught his eye.

"Then we make our own ," he announced, "c'mon."

Everyone hopped into the transport, with Matau taking the wheel.

"What about Turaga Dume?" Onewa asked the Toa of Fire.

"He'll be safe until we return," Vakama assured him, and gave the word to move forward.

When they reached the cavern wall, Whenua revved up his drills, forming a tunnel to the surface for them. Behind them, the Vahki managed to break the door down just as they vanished into the new tunnel and pursued. Onewa, and Vakama, seeing them coming, slowed them down with stone and fire respectively. They just turned the last remaining Vahki in the squad into a smoking pile of rubble when Matau told everyone to hold on tight. The transport leapt out of the ground and headed for the Coliseum.

* * *

A/N- and this arc of the story is coming to a close…

Well, until the next arc!

See you next chap!

Please read and review!


	8. Chapter 8: We are Heroes

A/N- Sorry that this came out so late! I've been so busy with school and everything that I literally fell asleep every time I tried to type.

I am going to focusing more on my other series, Rise of the Dragon Knight Book 2; The Sea of Change. Check it out if your curious.

Welp, here's the last chapter of this book. Don't worry though, _Book 1 Arc 2: Web of Deceit_ will come out soon!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bionicle. Just my OC.

* * *

Finally, the Toa Metru, Turaga and human girl made it to the arena near the top, only to find that it was empty. "Quickly!" Lhikan urged worriedly as the team rushed in.

"Too late, Toa." Dume announced. As he laughed, they stopped in their tracks as it turned into an evil and menacing sound. The Turaga removed his mask, revealing his true self as the imposter heralded, "The Shadow has arrived."

"Makuta!" Lhikan exclaimed angrily, giving name to the villain, "You were sworn to _protect_ the Matoran!"

"I shall," Makuta proclaimed with a chilling grin that sent shivers down Emma's spine, "and when they awake, I will be their great _leader_." He hissed with a triumphant grin.

"Deceit and self-interest will never be virtues the Matoran honor." Vakama snarled, stepping forwards bravely.

"You got that right!" Emma agreed, twisting her spear and aiming it at the monster.

Makuta, however, laughed, noting both the Fire Toa's and the small organic's boldness. "How very bold." He grinned, "Now, even the Great Spirit will soon… _sleep._ " he decreed as the elevator moved up the spire, to the absolute tallest point of the building.

The sky began to darken, the twin moons becoming eclipsed with a shadow that seemed to envelop the city, and lightning flashed overhead ominously.

"We must find the Matoran!" Vakama turned to his Earth brother. "Whenua, what can you see?"

The black Toa activated his mask power of night vision to its highest point, enabling him to see through the floor. Within moments, he found them. "Matoran capsules, thousands of them!" He cried out. "They're down below!"

The group ran back to the transport and Vakama told Matau where to go. As they moved toward the Matoran, they could distinctly hear Makuta's laughter. Matau turned his attention back to the road in time to see they were about to go over a ledge. With a yell, he managed to pull the transport to a stop just in time and whistled as he looked down the far drop. Immediately, the other Toa jumped off and Nokama opened up a capsule, only to discover that were indeed too late.

The Matoran inside was alive, but asleep, and there was no doubt that the thousands of others were in the same condition. "Can we save them all?" asked the Toa of Water.

"We can't take them all now." said Vakama. "We'll return for the others later."

"Yes, we must get them to safety." Lhikan said in agreement.

The Toa Metru, along with Emma, got to work right away at loading as many capsules as the transport could carry while Lhikan watched with silent pride. Finally, the transport was as full as they could get it.

"Emma, c'mon, we have to go," Nokama called to the girl who was trying to maneuver another capsule. Emma reluctantly left the capsule, laying her hand on it and bowing her head, before running up to the transport, where the Toa of Water and Earth helped her in. Once they were outside the building and on their way, Emma turned back, and saw that at the top of the spire there was a strange red, spinning spiral with glowing red eyes. Judging from the laughter that emanated from it, she had no doubt that it was Makuta, but, before she give any more thought to it, the Dark Hunters attacked.

Krekka pestered Matau, who was trying to keep the vehicle in control, while Nidhiki cornered her, Turaga Lhikan, and Nuju.

He clicked his pincers menacingly. "Toa or Turaga, your fate shall be the same, Lhikan!" the Dark Hunter snarled.

Emma yanked out her spear and said defiantly, "Over our dead bodies, freak!" as she and the Toa of Ice placed themselves between the Dark Hunter and their mentor. The white Toa gave the young human an odd look that she either didn't notice or ignored. Emma's hands tightened around the spear. _I can't let him win, the future of this world depends on it!_

" _That_ can be arranged." Nidhiki laughed cruelly, and dove forwards, attacking with his claws. The Ice Toa and girl fought back, but Emma knew that they wouldn't last very long, especially if Nidhiki decided to use his energy beams against them. Suddenly, Krekka jumped his partner, glowing a tannish-brown color. "Fool, get off!" Nidhiki grumbled, unable to break out of the brute's grip.

"My thoughts exactly!" said a voice and the Dark Hunters went flying into the air. Emma looked up to find Onewa, a glow on his mask starting to fade. She grinned, flashing the Stone Toa a thumbs up.

"Matau, head for the Great Temple," Vakama instructed, and the Toa of Air complied. Emma looked back at the Coliseum, heard the Dark Hunters screaming, and grimaced. She felt sorry for them.

Soon they made it to the Great Temple, only to find a barricade of Vahki Bordakh aiming their staffs at the approaching craft.

"Where to now?" asked Matau, and Vakama told him to drive off the edge of the bridge just before the Vahki fired. Thankfully, or luckily, depending upon how one looked at it, they missed. Matau told everybody to hope that the transport would float and rammed it through the rail.

Inside, Emma dove forwards, grabbing a hold of Turaga Lhikan to cushion him as they slammed into the wall, and the transport hit the protodermis sea. The Vahki looked over the edge, but there was no sign of the transport or any survivors, and they left, assuming that their prey had perished. Just then, the transport bobbed up to the surface and everyone was alive and well, aside from being wet.

"Hey," Matau grinned, "it does float! Kinda…" he added as an after thought.

With the legs serving as oars, Matau steered the transport toward the Great Barrier, considering they had nowhere else to go.

On the way, Vakama used his old mask-making tool to fashion the blank disk that was now the end result of all six Great Disks into one final project—the Mask of Time. "You no longer need to mask-make, Vakama." said Matau as he shook his head. "It's time you accepted that you are a Toa."

"Time, of course," the Toa of Fire exclaimed. "That's what the false Turaga wanted." Then, his mind got lost in another vision. He saw Lhikan when he was still a Toa; the Matoran spheres; the Matoran if Makuta had succeeded; his vision of Toa Lhikan's mask talking to him after the Dark Hunters captured him; Turaga Lhikan; himself being drawn to a crack of light in the Great Barrier; a scene from one of his most recent visions where Toa Lhikan turned into his spirit star and shot up into the sky; he, his fellow Toa, and Emma carrying Matoran capsules into the light with Turaga Lhikan's hand overshadowing them. Then, the vision ended, and Vakama knew where they had to go. "Follow the light," he said to the Toa of Air. "Our destiny lies in the light _beyond_ the Great Barrier."

At the cockpit, Matau and Emma looked at each other, shrugged, and the Air Toa drove the transport toward where a speck of light could be seen through the wall. However, someone was not willing to let them leave. Hearing something land on one the many pillars that surrounded them, they looked up, and saw a frightening sight; Makuta, only bigger and features of Nidhiki, Krekka, and Nivawk now made up his ten foot body. "Your journey must… _end._ " said the monster.

"By the will of the Great Spirit, it has just begun!" the Toa of Fire protested, unwilling to give up now that they'd come this far.

"Then perish in the _real_ sea of protodermis!" Makuta responded to Vakama, and he formed pillars of liquid protodermis that reached for the sky.

Vakama pointed to the light ahead of them, and Matau put on the speed and steered right for it. Makuta made another pillar appear right in their path, with no way to get around it.

"I got it!" Onewa cried as he leapt into the air and smashed through it with his pistons, disintegrating it for the transport to pass through.

"Nokama, quick-turn!" Matau called as two more pillars shot up. The Toa of Water threw out her axe, which latched onto the protodermis, and she held on tight.

The Toa of Air and Emma held on to the steering wheeland railing as they whooped when the craft performed a wide turn at a high speed.

"Nuju, get me up there," Vakama said to the Toa of Ice, and he activated the telekinetic powers of his mask, lifting the Fire Toa into the air. Hearing someone call his name, Vakama looked to see Emma jump up and grab his leg.

"Emma-!" The red Toa started, only for the girl to shake her head. "Toa stick together!" She informed him, climbing up and grabbing onto his shoulders.

The Toa stared, before shaking his head, and switched his gaze back to the pillar where Makuta stood, praying that what he had in mind would work.

Down at the transport, Matau noticed a giant, darker-shaded shadow had suddenly appeared. He looked up to find one of the protodermis pillars falling into the sea right in front of them, creating rough waves that rocked them. The violent motion caused Nuju to loose his balance, and he banged his head against the wall, the glow from his mask fading.

The glow surrounding the two vanished, and they both landed with a thump in front of the Makuta. Vakama stood up fully, placing himself protectively in front of Emma and pulled a golden mask out of his subspace.

"Ah," Makuta grinned, "the Mask of Time." The mask, now with a name, was clutched protectively in Vakama's hands.

"You are a great mask maker," the towering monster praised, "you could have many _destinies_."

Vakama froze, uncertainty painted on his face.

"And you, young one." Emma stiffened as the Makuta addressed her. "You are very brave for a creature so small. Helping those who you don't know, and yet so _far_ from home."

The girl paused, blinking owlishly as she mulled the information over.

Makuta continued, seeing as he had gathered the two's attention. "Come," he beckoned, "join my brothers, and _me_."

Vakama started to consider the offer, when he felt a small hand grasp his arm, and turned to see Emma growl at the beast, her own mind made up. "Like hell!" She snarled, bearing her teeth. "You spill nothing but lies, and I will fight you until my final breath!"

The Makuta looked surprised at her response, and Vakama made his own decision.

"I desire just one, nobel destiny!" He proclaimed, placing the mask on his face, which glowed golden. "More than any power you can offer me!"

Makuta snarled, angered that the two had not fallen for his lies. "Then accept, your, _DOOM_!" With that, the monster flung back his arms, and a clawed hand made out of gaseous red and black shadows shot out of his chest towards the two.

The two energies shot towards each other, the Mask of Time's golden energy swirling around the shadow claw. Unfortunately, the Toa of Fire didn't have the discipline to properly control such power and the hand proceeded toward the two.

Just when it looked as though the Makuta would win, Turaga Lhikan jumped between Vakama, Emma, and the hand, using his board as a shield. The hand struck, grabbing the board and absorbing it into Makuta, the Kanohi Vahi was knocked off of the Fire Toa's face, and he collapsed to the ground.

He sat up, and hearing a groan beside him, turned to see Emma laying beside him.

" _Ow_ …" the girl groaned, "what happened?"

The Toa shrugged, looking around, "I'm not su-" he cut himself off as he spotted a familiar form laying prone on the ground. "Lhikan!" Vakama cried out, scrambling to his feet.

Emma's head snapped towards the prone form, and she gasped. She raced forwards with Vakama, fear and pain filling her heart as she realized what was happening. _No, not this! Please no!_

Once the thirteen year old reached Lhikan, she pillowed his head on her thighs. Vakama slid right next to them on Emma's left, looking horrified.

"That was meant for us…" the Toa of Fire whispered.

"No…" Lhikan whispered, residual energy dancing across his body. "This is my life times journey," he turned his head to the right, "yours lies beyond…" he raised his hand up to Vakama's chest. "Trust your visions." The Toa's face darkened even as Lhikan continued. "I am proud to have called you, brother… Toa Vakama."

"And Emma…" the girl looked up at her name, showing the tears that dripped down her slightly red face. "Y-yes?"

Lhikan managed a smile through his pain. "You have shown… that you posses… the heart of a Toa. I would have been proud to have considered you… a sister… Toa… Emma."

Emma's eyes widened, before a choked smile pulled on her lips. "A-and I you…"

Lhikan smiled, before reaching up. With shaking hands, the Turaga pulled off his mask. Emma choked back a sob as he passed the mask to Vakama. _God no…_

The Turaga weakly held up his fist, and holding the mask with one hand, Vakama used his other one to fist bump Lhikan's, the Toa way. Lhikan shifted his fist, making space on his, before motioning with his head to Emma's hand. Emma blinked in surprise, before raising her own small fist, and pressed it against Lhikan's. The Turaga then pulled it back, before placing his hand on top of her's and Vakama's.

Lhikan's breathing began to ease, and then, his heartlight gave a few, final, beats, before fading, and his hand went slack.

Tears pored down Emma's face, though no sound escaped her lips. Vakama bowed his head, hiding his own tears. Sighing, the Toa took one last look at Lhikan, and Lhikan's mask, before sliding the mask into his subspace.

"Vakama…?" Emma whispered, looking up at the Toa as she laid Lhikan's exposed head on the ground, not looking at his face. "Are you… alright?"

Vakama said nothing from his kneeling position. As Emma opened her mouth to speak again, the Toa of Fire stood up. Emma watched in awe as his mask began to glow, before he disappeared from sight. "Vakama… your…"

From where he was invisible, Vakama's eyes widened in surprise. "My mask power…"

An idea struck the Toa then. Reaching out, he grabbed Emma's hand. Much to both their surprise, her arm began to fade, and she too turned invisible.

"Incredible…" Emma breathed. _How is this possible…_

A tug from Vakama jolted her back into reality. "C'mon!"

* * *

"At last," the dark one mused to himself as he held the Vahi.

Vakama, however, had other ideas. "Not this time." He growled, letting go of Emma's hand and dropping his invisibility.

Grabbing his disc launcher, he loaded a disc launched it. The disc flew through the air, striking the mask out of Makuta's hands and into the sea far below. Makuta roared in frustration, "Without the Mask of Time, it will take a lifetime's journey to find all our destinies." He turned to the two now visible forms, a snarl on his face. "Only yours will be brief!"

He shot out the giant hand at the Toa and girl, who dodged it, and instead Makuta absorbed a piece of rock. Grabbing Emma's hand, Vakama reactivated his mask power, turning the two invisible.

The Makuta roared in anger, now unable to see his foes.

The Toa and girl darted behind a pillar, both breathing heavily. Vakama, hearing Makuta searching for them, was struck with an idea. Whispering his plan in Emma's ear, the girl nodded and tensed her legs. Reaching back a fist, the Toa of Fire knocked on the pillar with a call of "Over here!"

The monster roared in response, releasing the hand again. The two invisible heroes ran as the hand snatched the pillar, drawing it quickly towards the Makuta. He roared as it slammed into him, sending up a brief cloud of dust.

Seeing as it had worked, Emma grinned invisibly and knocked her own fist against a second pillar. "Over here scrap head!"

The Makuta roared in fury, releasing the hand and receiving another pillar to the face.

Soon, the invisible Vakama and Emma starting knocking on rocks and calling to Makuta every now and then, making the behemoth play a little game of cat and mouse. At one point, he roared so loud, not only did the other Toa on the shore down below hear him, but Emma actually thought that the very sky itself would crack as she resisted the urge to cover her ears. Finally, Vakama dragged the girl behind a pillar to catch his breath, which turned out to be a big mistake.

Makuta's ears caught the sound and he leered toward the rock where the two were hiding. "I know where you are," he informed Vakama. The red Toa just knew he was in for it now, especially if he couldn't get his breathing to slow down, but even if he could it was too late. Makuta was slowly, but surely, heading right for them.

Fortunately for him, Emma knew what to do. Keeping her eyes on Makuta, she reached down with her free hand, grabbed a rock, and tossed it at a pillar behind the giant, where it made a loud crack. Makuta instantly responded by releasing the hand again. Seeing his chance, and saying a silent thank you to the girl, Vakama pulled her behind him as they leaped over the gap between their pillar and the next, and he called out to Makuta as they did. Hearing the voice, Makuta went after them.

The monster landed, surveying the area as he snarled. Both his foes were still invisible, meaning that he could not locate them.

"Show yourselves!" He snarled.

When he turned his back, Vakama squeezed Emma's hand lightly before saying "Makuta!"

The monster turned as towards where the voice had come from.

"Giving up so soon?" The Toa taunted as his mask glowed red.

Makuta laughed in response, stomping forward a bit as he proclaimed "You cannot hide from _me_!"

Squeezing Emma's hand again, the two moved forward as Vakama dropped the invisibility completely.

"We don't need to…" Emma started, pulling her hand from her friend's. "Because we are Toa!" Vakama finished, and both stood proudly and defiantly in front of the monster.

Makuta screamed in anger, releasing the hand again. It raced towards the two, both who gave no signs of fleeing.

Just as the hand came within arms reach, Vakama and Emma dodged Makuta's attack at the last possible moment, and the monster grabbed the pillar of stone behind them instead. Makuta suddenly looked a little worried; unable to make the hand let go, there was nothing to do but draw it in. Unfortunately, the pillar was far too large for him to absorb. With a shout, the stone slammed him into the wall of the Great Barrier behind him with a crash. Emma winced and watched as the rock crumbled away, revealing a little battered looking Makuta, held in place by the dent his body made in the wall.

"Now that's _really_ gotta hurt." Emma remarked, panting.

Vakama nodded slowly, and the two approached Makuta, who looked at them both with some defiance still in his eyes. "If Toa… Lhikan could not defeat me alone, how… could you?"

"Because he's not alone," Nokama answered as she and the rest of the Toa joined the Toa of Fire. Emma stepped back, a knowing grin on her face.

With a simultaneous cry of **"Unity!"** , the Toa Metru placed their fists in a semicircle.

A wind swirled Emma's ponytail and bangs into her face as well as a white mist that seemed to appear from nowhere. As she shielded her vision from her hair, she could feel the force of all of the elements merging together. It was exhilarating and overwhelming at the same time. The Toa Metru's elemental energies flowed together to form a beam of energy, pure and white.

Despite his best efforts, Makuta could not escape from the bolt of energy that pinned him to the wall. A clear and hardened substance started to encase his body until he couldn't move anymore and his eyes went dark. When the Toa were done, Emma joined them and let out a low whistle when she found Makuta in a cage of solid protodermis. The Toa, glad that it was finally over, sighed in relief. Vakama spotted a bright light in the sky and they all looked up. At first it was one spirit star, then it separated into multiple ones, each a different color.

"Six spirit stars." Emma breathed in awe, and the celestial lights placed themselves into the sky in a pattern, forming a square-like constellation.

"The Great Spirit proclaims it," said Nuju. "We are Toa!"

The group whooped and cheered. They had proven themselves worthy Toa at long last. More than that, they were all now the heroes of Metru Nui.

Emma grinned along with them, until she noticed something odd. Flickering faintly near the new constellation was a small golden star. As she stared at it for a few moments, Emma began to wonder what it could mean.

* * *

Later, the new Toa carried some Matoran spheres through a tunnel on a stretch of land. Vakama was the only one who looked back at what remained of his proud city, a slight look of longing in his eyes.

"Vakama," said Emma as she came up beside him, "we have to go; it's not safe for them there anymore."

"I know," the Fire Toa nodded and smiled. And, the two of them followed the others.

As she walked, Emma wondered about what the island of Mata Nui would look like, and of what was to come next in their adventure.

* * *

A/N- The Legends of Metru are now completed, as is arc one of this story. But do not fear, for book two is coming out soon.

Just gotta wait for me to finish book 2 of my other series! All 7 so chaps.

That gives all you contest writers (info in last chaps A/N) a good chance to complete your scripts!

Next Arc: Web of Deceit


	9. The Next Arc is Out!

Hey Everyone!

My second story in this series, _Legends of_ _Terra Book 1 Arc 2: Web of Deceit_ , is now out! More information can be found in the first chapter's A/N. See you there!


	10. The Second Book Is Here!

Hey Everyone!

For those of you unaware, my second book in the series has been out for more than a month now! It's called _Legends of_ _Terra Book 2 Arc 1: Return to the Island._ It's the sequel to Book 1, which consists of this arc - _Arc 1_ \- and _Arc 2: Web of Deceit_.

Hope to see you there!


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